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A Corner 

in 
Celebrities 



By Alice Elizabeth Trabue 



Published by 

Geo. G. Fkttkr Comi-inv, 

Louisville. 






Copyright. 19«2 

By Ai ICE Elizabkth Trabuf, 

Louisville, Ky. 



NOV 27 1922 



©Cl Af>90409 



-. - \ 



DEDICATION 

To my father, Stephen Fitz- 
James Trahue and 7nother' Alice 
Elizabeth {Berry) Trahue, de- 
scendants of early pioneer 
settlers of Kentucky and long 
residents of Franklin County. 



Authorities Consulted 



"Kentucky A Pioneer in the Commonwealth," by N. S. Shaler. 

"Kentucky in the Nation's History," by Robert McNutt McElroy. 

"History of the Supreme Court of the United States," by Hampton 
Carson. 

"History of Franklin County, Kentucky," by L. F. Johnson, B. A. M. 
A. 

"Centennial Commemoration of the Town of Frankfort, 1886," by 
John Mason Brown. 

"History of Kentucky," by Campbell. 

"History of Kentucky and Kentuckians," by E. Polk Johnson. 

"Biographical Encyclopaedia of Kentucky." 

"National Encyclopaedia of American Biography." 

"Transylvania University," by Dr. Robert Peter and Johanna Peter. 

"The Wilkinson-Burr Conspiracy," by Judge Shackleford Miller. 







^ 

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MONTGOneEY 

TJ 



A Corner in Celebrities 

"Reno^ined Rome," foitunatc in her protjeny of hrroes* 

IN PICTURESQUE Frankfort Kentucky there is a quaint corner of the 
town from which have probably sprung more distinguished men than 

from an>' like area in the United States. Covering about four acres, 
bounded by four streets bearing the historic names of Washington, Wilkin- 
son, Montgomery and Wapping, is the central group of some noble old 
houses which sheltered sires and sons whose deeds brought fame and ever 
lasting glory to Kentucky. Here dwelt two Supreme Court Justices, two 
Cabinet officers, nine United States Senators, seven Governors, six Con- 
gressmen, seven foreign representatives, and it is here that three Admirals 
of the Navy first saw the light of day. Can any other town in so small 
a space, even in Puritan New England, Knickerbocker New York or the 
Cavalier South, boast so brilliant an array of Governors of the States and 
men of national and international importance? 

Within this small zone for at least one period of their lives, there lived 
the following brilliant galaxy: 

Swprenie Court Justices 

THOMAS TODD and JOHN MARSHALL HARLAN. 

Cabinet Officers 

GEORGE MORTIER BIBB and JOHN JORDAN CRITTEN- 
DEN. 

Ufiited States Senators 

JOHN BROWN, first United States Senator after Kentucky was ad- 
mitted into the Union. He served three terms and was President pro- 
tem 1803-04. 

JAMES BROWN, first United States Senator from Louisiana after it 
\vas admitted into the Union. By his hands the Monroe Doctrine was 
transmitted to France, in which country he remained as Minister for 
six years. 

GEORGE MORTIER BIBB, twice United States Senator from Ken- 
tucky; appointed Secretary of the Treasury of the United States by 
President John Tyler. 

JOHN JORDAN CRITTENDEN, five times United States Senator, 

*"Illa incluta Roma felix prola virum. — I'irg'tl's Aene'ui Bk. /7-781-78+. 



Governor of Kentucky, member of Congress and twice Attorney General 
of the United States — appointments by Presidents William Henry Harri- 
son and Millard Filmore. 

THOMAS METCALFE, United States Senator, member of Congress 
and Governor of Kentucky. 

GEORGE GRAHAM VEST and BENJAMIN GRATZ BROWN, 
both of whom served in the United States Senate from Missouri, the latter 
was also Governor of that state, and was candidate for the Vice Presidency 
with Horace Greely. 
United States Rep-ese)itatives 

ROBERT PERKINS LETCHER, served twelve years; was Governor 
of Kentucky and Minister to Mexico. 

JAMES HARLAN, served several terms. 

CHARLES SLAUGHTER MOREHEAD, member of Congress and 
Governor of Kentucky. 
Foreign Representatives 

CHARLES S. TODD, Minister to Columbia and to Russia. 

THOMAS LEONIDAS CHRITTENDEN, Consul at Liverpool. 

CHAPMAN COLEMAN, for twenty years First Secretary of the 
American Legation at Berlin, later Consul at Roubaix, France and seven 
years Consul at Rome. 

JOHN GLOVER SOUTH, M. D., Minister to Panama— appoint- 
ed by President Warren G. Harding. 
Within this historic sfot were born three Admirals of the Navy — 

JOHN CRITTENDEN WATSON, CHAPMAN COLEMAN 
TODD and HUGH RODMAN. 

The old citizens of Frankfort like to tell of the youthful pranks of 
these ernbryo Admirals, whose sports on the Kentucky River, foreshadow- 
ed their future careers. A fourth Naval officer who was reared from 
infancy in this neighborhood and rose to the rank of a Commodore was 
ROBERT PHYTHIAN. The home of his youth was the quaint old 
gabled-roof house on the northeast corner of Main and Wilkinson 
streets. He was Superintendent of the LTnited States Naval Academy at 
Annapolis and of the Naval Observatory at Washington. Served in the 
Navy during the Civil war, rendering creditable service. He married 
Cordelia Brodhead, of Frankfort. 

It is interesting to note how many of these distinguished men, honored 
by both State and Nation, were allied by the ties of marriage or blood, and 
yet who during the Civil War were completely di\ided by their separate 
sympathies. Almost without an exception, they were of \'irginia ancestry. 



Some were sturdy pioneers of Revolutionary service, who though reared 
amid luxuries rarely excelled in the homes of any other state, had despite 
the constant conflicts with Indians, fought their way through the wilderness 
of forest and cane-brake to take up land grants and surveys in "That 
newly discovered, wonderful country, Kentucky."*^ 

The earliest settlements were of necessity around the forts at Harrods- 
burgh, Logan's Fort, Boonsboro and Danville, until land grants and early 
surveys rapidly created settlements further down the river. 




Courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society. 
Centennial Celebration 1886 of the Incorporation of the toiin of 
Frankfort, Ky. 

In 1786, an act was passed to establish the town of Frankfort on one 
hundred acres of land belonging to James Wilkinson, who was at the time 
Commander-in-chief of the Western Division of the United States Army. 
Wilkinson not only had the town established, but with characteristic energy 
utilized his soldiers to dig great drains that dried the swampy low grounds 

*'From the Diary of Colonel Daniel Trabiie, a Revolutionary officer. 

7 



in the eastern end and by his generosity and tact, attracted a most 
desirable population. The first streets laid off by him were nearly all 
named for generals in the Revolutionary War, with the exception of Ann 
Street, which was named for his wife, a woman said to have possessed rare 
charm and popularity, and Miro Street, named for the Spanish Governor 
of the Province of Orleans. It is claimed that the name Wapping was 
suggested by Mr. Instone, an Englishman, whose cottage was the first home 
completed on this street.*" 

This historic square is just one twenty-fifth part of the original town, 
to which another hundred or more acres have long since been added on 
the South side. It is located in a triangle or corner of the town. Wap- 
ping Street, beginning at St. Clair follows the river west but two and a 
half blocks, when the river bends at almost right angles north. Follow 
Wapping two short blocks, and here Wilkinson Street begins and follows the 
bend. The name Wapping is derived from "Wapping Old Stair," the 
King's wharf in London, and it is believed that there is no other residence 
street bearing this name, as letters addressed "Wapping Street" without 
city or state address, have found their destination from far distant points. 
Parallel with Wapping, is Montgomery (now Main) named for General 
Richard Montgomery, a British Officer, who resigned his commission in 
1773 to come to America, and was in 1775 appointed Brigadier-General by 
the Continental Congress. It was under him that Wilkinson had marched 
against Quebec. St. Clair Street was named in honor of General Arthur 
St. Clair of the Revolution, Wilkinson's own Division Commander. Be- 
tween St. Clair and Wilkinson, lies Washington Street. 

Christened at its birth with history making names, is it surprising that 
the power of suggestion ever recurs inspiring men to fame? — but a word 
for the "lay of the land" and the setting for its illustrious sons: 

Frankfort is the most romantic of spots — a constant inspiration where 
artists never tire of painting and poets sing their songs — Theodore O'Hara 
in his immortal "Bivouac of the Dead," Henry T. Stanton, Robert Burns 
Wilson, Mrs. Jennie Chinn Morton and others. 

It lies in a valley, surrounded by towering hills spread like tapestried 
screens with their never ending changes of color from the masses of Red- 
bud, White Dog-wood and the delicate greens of the early spring, deepen- 
ing in tone as the summer wanes, to the blaze of red and gold of October. 
Winding half way around the town, dividing in it two, is the incomparable 
Kentucky River, wooded down to its water's edge, whence in many in- 
stances, garden walks lead back through rows of lovely flowers to fine old 

*-From an unpublished document in the Kentucky State Historical Society. 



square brick homes which have stood for many decades, and in a number of 
instances have been occupied through four or five generations by a single 
family to the present day. 

We see the picturesqueness of her situation, her lovely gardens and 
spacious homes, her peaceful, nay even drowsy aspect. The casual tourist 
motoring from Louisville, viewing from the winding pike the splendid new 
Capitol buildings cameoed against the green hill beyond, often feels that 
after a brief inspection of these buildings all worth while has been seen, 
so crossing the bridge to the North side, they drive a few squares through 




Courtesy cif iIk- Kcimickv Historical Society. 



The Arsenal 



the business section, until they mount the hill top, past the gray and vener- 
able arsenal and historic cemetery — and on to the Bluegrass region 
beyond. How few of these know or realize that had they but turned to 
the left after crossing the St. Clair Street bridge, and driven those two 
short squares down Wapping near the river's bend, then over to Main 
Street, encircling the square, they might have seen on either side of the 
street and in close proximity, the most historic small neighborhood to be 

9 



found in America. How often they would pause to ask who built these 
homes — what spirit of enterprise, culture and statesmanship was housed 
within their walls in bygone days! And were the travelers more favored, 
and could they enter the great wide halls, they would be greeted by what 
is even rarer in our fast changing American life — an almost unchanged ap- 
pearance within, where fine old mahogonies and rare silver services have 
stood the test of timej and where from lofty walls hang portraits by Gilbert 
Stuart, Sharpless, Jouett, Moise and Fowler, John Neagle, Chester Har- 
ding, Joseph Bush, Marshall, Robert Burns Wilson, Paul Sawyer, Charles 
Snead Williams and other artists contemporaneous with the generations 
as they came. 

And the women of these homes! A volume might be written of their 
charm and culture j their devoted loyalty to the past and to each other. 
With them the vicisitudes of fortune have counted little j through pros- 
perity and adversity they have kept faith with bygone days with a grace 
rarely to be seen in any community. 

Throughout the whole boundary of North and South Frankfort and 
extending into its country side, men of distinction lived and left their stamp 
indelibly upon the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Their names are legion 
and would compel an endless task to innumerate, but it is to this one small 
corner of the town that I must restrict my boundary, convinced that no other 
locality of so small a radius has harbored so many men of distinction. It 
is of these men only, and where they dwelt that it is my purpose to write, 
regretting that I must pass, unmentioned, homes of citizens worthy of note, 
who with their families have occupied homesteads for four generations, 
and confine my account to Governors of the states and men of National 
and inter-national importance. 

General Wilkinson was a native of Benedict, Maryland, and had just 
completed his education for the medical profession when the news of 
Bunker Hill caused him to join the troops in front of Boston. He soon 
became a staff officer under General Gates and rose to the rank of Colonel 
at Saratoga, and by the close of the war was recommended by Gates to 
the rank of Brigadier General. Though having for a time resigned his 
commission and become a private citizen, in 1791 he re-entered the army 
and in 1796 was Commander-in-chief of the United States Army. He had 
engaging manners, was an eloquent public speaker, a clear thinker and 
writer, and a man of more than ordinary attainments. He was a member 
of the Second Assembly, and as much as any man identified with Ken- 
tucky's early struggles for independence. He prepared the memorial in 
which "the people of the Western country set forth their grievancies and 

10 



besought equality of consideration." Washington is quoted by Jefferson 
as having said of him "brave, enterprising to an excess, but with many 
unapprovable points in his character." Indeed, old diaries in Kentucky 
record the fact that his autocratic tendencies were manifested by an order 
commanding the officers under him to cut off their queues, the result 
having been many resignations. 

At this time the gulf states were under the control and belonged to 
the Spanish Government. Miro was in charge and granted some privi- 
leges of trade and the free use of the Mississippi river for the transpor- 
tation of freight, besides an offer of nearly five times as much for tobacco 
as the Kentuckians were receiving, Wilkinson was under suspicion of 
having betrayed the district of Kentucky to Miro and the Spanish Govern- 
ment. In 1805 he held a high military position in the Territory of 
Louisiana; in 181 1 he was courtmarshalled and charged with treason in 
connection with Aaron Burr, but was acquitted. Later evidence was 
brought to light through letters of his own in the Spanish Archives, that 
for several years prior to 1800, he was a pensioner of the Spanish Govern- 
ment. He resigned from the United States Army and about 18 13 went to 
Mexico, where he died twelve years later, said to have been possessed ot 
large investments. 

Wilkinson reserved for his own use the Wharfage space along the 
Kentucky River from St. Clair Street to the river's bend, where, at the 
cross section of Wilkinson and Wapping Streets, on the southwest corner, 
he built a large dwelling, in proportion far excelling any house in town — 
a ferry landing at the bank. It was the proffered use of this house to the 
state free of charge for seven years that helped to decide the location of 
the Capitol six years later. Here November 1793, the Second Session of 
the Legislature was held, for although Danville had been the cradle of 
Kentucky political activities for nine years, the Capitol was first established 
in Lexington June 1792. There was thus transferred to Frankfort the politi- 
cal importance which Danville had enjoyed. Andrew Holmes was at the 
time the temporary occupant of this house but it was subsequently for seven- 
ty-five or more years better known as "The Old Love House," it having be- 
come the home of Mrs. Elizabeth Love, one of Kentucky's strong women 
of pioneer days, noted for her social, intellectual and christian virtues. 
Her husband. Major Thomas Love, had served under General Anthony 
Wayne, in his Western Campaigns, at the end of which he had retired and 
located permanently in Frankfort where for a number of years he and his 
wife were proprietors of a large tavern known as "The Love House." It is 
here that Aaron Burr consulted with his lawyers and where he and many 

11 



noted men of their day were guests upon their visits to this locality, and 
where the exiled French Prince Louis Philippe found for a period a home, 
and here it was at a ball given in his honor, that the young Prince met a 
surprise in the refusal of Mrs. Love to accept him as a partner in the 
Minuet, explaining that she had previously refused an humbler admirer 
whom she would justly oifend. Many years later when the change of 
fortune had established him in the Tuileries, it was in conversation with a 
ciistinguished American, that the Prince recalled the incident and praised 
the kind heart of the young woman. *^ 

Burr had with humiliation seen his rival Jefferson, chosen by an almost 
unanim.ous vote for a second term. Jefferson would not appoint him to a 
foreign mission, and he had lost influence after slaying Hamilton. He 
was first in Frankfort in 1805. It was in Frankfort in 1806 that a local 
newspaper, "The Western World," unearthed the alleged conspiracy of 
Burr with Blennerhassett and others against the United States. On 
November the fifth, the United States District Attorney, Joseph Hamilton 
Daviess instituted proceedings in the United States District 
Court, demanding that Burr be made to answer a charge of High mis- 
demeanor in organizing a military expedition against a friendly power. 
Burr, who was at Lexington at the time, came to Frankfort with his young 
attorneys Henry Clay*" and John Allen, and finding a delay impending, 
insisted upon an immediate trial. After several suggested postponements 
by the District Attorney, conditioned by his failure to procure several im- 
portant witnesses, it was not until December 3 that the climax came. The 
town and country side were crazed with excitement and the Court House 
crowded to its capacity. The final failure of the grand jury to return an 
indictment was regarded by Burr's friends as a complete vindication and 
celebrated that evening by a ball at the Philip Bush Tavern. Conspicious 
nmong those present were ofiicers of both State and Nation. The fact that 
Joseph Hamilton Daviess was a strong Federalist and political opponent 
of the Jefferson and Burr administration, and had a controlling influence 
with the "Western World," induced much sympathy for Burr's cause. 

Below is a copy of a letter from Mrs. Parmelia Sawyer, a girl of but 
sixteen years old at the time of the ball: 

"A ball was given at the Philip Bush Tavern at the corner of Main 
and Lewis Streets, where I danced in the same set with Colonel Burr. My 
vis-a-vis, his partner, was Mrs. Thornton, the daughter of our neighbor 

*^From the writings of Mr. John Mason Brown, Sr. 

♦^Before Burr received Clay's consent to take charge of his case, he received Burr's pledge 
of honor that he was in no way engaged in such project as the enemy charged. — Slialer p. 153. 

12 



Judge Harry Innis. He was handsome, with marked eye-brows, small in 
stature, but dignified in mien. In manner polite and refined and quite a 
hero in my young eyes. On this occasion he wore small clothes, gold knee 
buckles and immense rosettes on his pumps j a queue tied with black ribbon, 
and powdered wig. His eyes were bright and piercing."*^ 

When Mrs. Love's only son joined the troops of 1812, she with her 
own hands made the uniform which he wore and was the "God Mother" 
of many another soldier of that period, knitting socks and supplying com- 
forts in every available way. In fact, so varied were her interests and so in- 
terwoven was her life with all the historic events during her fifty or more 
years of residence here,*' that no account of Frankfort could be complete 
without her. The old house has long since been supplanted by a modern 
structure.*^ 



*-Mrs. Love died January 19, 1845, having survived her husband many years- Her's was the 
first burial in the new state cemetery. 
*^The old house was replaced in 1870. 



13 




C'<uiru-s\ <4 tin- Kentucky Historical Society. 
Sttite Monument, also s/ioii'nu/ tomb of Theodore O'Hara. 




Painted by Matthew Jouett 

Hon. John Broiin 



AMONG the most prominent in the stormy events of nine years dur- 
ation leading to the separation of Kentucky from Virginia on June i, 
1792 (it being the first state which made application to be admitted 
after the original thirteen) and in securing to the West the full benefits of 
an unobstructed Navigation of the Mississippi River, was the HON. JOHN 
BROWN, born in Staunton, Virginia, September 12, 1757. He was the 
son of John Brown a distinguished Presbyterian minister who had charge 
of a church in Rockbridge Co., Virginia for over fifty years and who, having 
been a student of one of the first classes of Princeton College under the 
Presidency of the father of Aaron Burr, and a graduate himself, sent his 
son to that institute of learning until it was broken up by the Revolutionary 
War*'. 

JOHN BROWN, JR. joined the troops under Washington and par- 
ticipated in the spectacular crossing of the Delaware River, later serving 
as Aid to LaFayette. He graduated at William and Mary College, and 
after reading law with Thomas Jefferson, removed to Danville Kentucky 
in 1782, but shortly afterwards settled in Frankfort three years prior to the 
incorporation of that town. 

He was a member of the Virginia Legislature from Kentucky j member 
of the conventions of 1788J and first and only niember sent to the Old 

•^Rev. John Brown married Margaret Preston. 

15 



Congress by the people of Kentucky, 1789-91. After Kentucky was ad- 
mitted into the Union, he was one of the two*" first United States Senators, 
being three consecutive times elected to that body, and its President pro- 
tem 1803-04. He projected several expeditions against the Indians^ 
was an intimate friend of Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, and urged by 
Jefferson and Monroe to accept Diplomatic office, but declined. He was a 
classical scholar, fine lawyer and ranked among the foremost men of his 
day. 

When the second State House was destroyed by lire, 1 824, John Brown, 
Peter Dudley, John Harvie and James Shannon were empowered in 1827*^ 
to employ an architect*'* to build the third permanent State Capitol. The 
design was considered at the time second only in beauty to the Nation's 




"Liberty Hall," erected 1796 by Hon. John Broivn as a home for his 
parents. It ivas also the home of Hon. James Broivn and Gov- 
ernor Benjamin Gratz Broiun. Today occupied by the fifth 
generation, Mary Mason and John Mattheiu Scott. 

Capitol and stands today a credit to the classic tastes of that period, it being 
admirably suited to the Kentucky State Historical Society and the housing 
of fine old portraits, to which purpose it was dedicated in 1920. 

He died August 28, 1837 at "Liberty Hall," his spacious brick resi- 
dence, named for his ancestral home at Washington-Lee University, Lex- 
ington, Virginia. This was erected 1796 as a home for his parents — three 
years prior to his own marriage — on the southwest corner of Wilkinson and 

*-John Edwards was the other U. S. Senator. 

*^Collins History of Kentucky. 

•■'Strickland of Philadelphia was employed. 

16 



Montgomery Streets. The lot occupied the entire block. The house is 
a beautiful example of Georgian architecture, designed by Thomas Jef- 
ferson, the glass having been brought out through the \^irginia mountains 
on muleback. The fine old garden is still to be seen extending back to the 
river's edge, and is today the most extensive and beautiful of the many 
charming gardens to be found in Frankfort. 

It is here in 1819, that his wife Margaretta, nee Mason, assisted by 
Mrs. Love founded the first Sunday School (Presbyterian) west of the 
Alleghaniesj the initial meeting having been under a large apple tree on 
the lawn, where the services were continuously held thereafter when the 
weather permitted, otherwise adjourned to the commodious drawing room 
of her residence :*\ In June a large bunch of Multaflora roses from her 
garden was awarded the best attendant of the past winter. It is a fact 
worthy of note that in the year ending September 30, 1822, among many 
who distinguished themselves, the two highest marks were attained by Ann 
Mary Crittenden who memorized 2,851 Bible verses in twelve months, 
while her younger sister, Cornelia Crittenden, aged six years memorized 
2,177. 

When we pause to consider that Kentucky was so many hundred 
miles from the seat of Government, beyond the Virginia mountains, and 
with no railroad until 1833, it presents a unique situation that among 
the distinguished men to have visited this home, were LaFayette, JeflFerson, 
Madison, Monroe, General Wilkinson, Aaron Burr, Zachary Taylor, 
Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt — three of them having been 
present at one visit. (See Addenda) 

It was during the ball given in his honor, which Mrs. Brown through 
religious piety had failed to attend, that LaFayette, with the simplicity 
and informality of the really great, slipped quietly away to this house to 
pay his respects to the wife of John Brown, his early Aid, and the daughter 
of Reverend John Mason, his Chaplain in the Revolution. 

His children were Mason and Orlando. Mason was on the Circuit 
Court Bench for ten years, resigning to become Secretary of State of Ken- 
tucky under Governor Charles S. Morehead, with whom he had written 
a Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky, 

With the characteristic taste and public interest manifested by Judge 
Mason Brown when be became one of the ruling influences in having the 
second State Cemetery established in the United States,*" and in selecting 

*iMy authorities are the statements of several of Mrs. Brown's granelchildren and great- 
grandchildren. 

•^The first state cemetery was at Mount Auburn, Massachusetts. 

17 



its rare situation, he went even further and imported from New York City, 
the celebrated young Russian Sculptor, Robert E. Launitz. To him he 
offered the hospitality of a home during the long delay while awaiting the 
arrival of the great marble shaft that had been shipped from Italy for the 
beautiful State Monument. This was to be erected to the soldiers and 
sailors of the Mexican War. It came by way of the Mississippi River di- 
rectly from New Orleans, where a barge had been sent to receive it. 
Launitz' rare art is met on every hand throughout the entire cemetery. 

Mason's only child by his first marriage*' was BENJAMIN GRATZ 
BROWN, a graduate of Transylvania and Yale Colleges, who removed to 
Missouri, serving in the United States Senate 1 860-67 j and was Governor 
of that state 18 70-74 j was also candidate for the Vice-Presidency on the 
ticket with Horace Greely. He attained great prominence throughout 
the country, having been a most able, eloquent speaker, an inherited quality 
partly attributable to his maternal grand-father, the celebrated Jesse 
Bledsoe. 

He married Mary Gunn of Missouri and left many decendants. 

Judge Brown having inherited the homestead, it has remained in an 
unbroken line of inheritance through five generations to the present day, 
it now being the home of Mary Mason, and John Matthew Scott. Here 
resided for the greater part of their lives, Mason's three daughters — 
Margaretta, Mrs. William F. Barret, Kentucky's late Regent to the Mount 
Vernon Association j Mary Yoder, Mrs. William T. Scott j and Eliza Eloise, 
wife of Joseph C. Baily, a Surgeon U. S. A., three of Kentucky's most 
prominent women, who each after but ten years of married life, returned 
widowed to the homestead, which had early become the property of Mrs. 
Scott and where Mrs. Baily still resides.*^ 



*ljudge Mason Brown married first, Judith A. Bledsoe of Lexington, Ky; he married 
second, Mary Yoder, also of Kentucky. 

*2Besides Judge Mason Brown's three daughters, by Mary Yoder, his three sons were: 
I. John Mason Brown, the eldest of the family, late a prominent lawyer of Louisville, Ky- 
He married Mary Owen Preston of Lexington, Ky., daughter of General William Preston, 
C. S. A., who served as Minister to Spain. Had — 

I. Preston, who was several times decorated for bravery in France during the World's 
War, Pershing having cabled from the field recommending his promotion to Major 
General; he married Susan Dorrance; 2. John Mason, Jr., deceased; married first, 
Carrie Ferguson; and second, Grace Duderaugh, of Maryland; 3. Mary Mason, wife 
of Henry M. Waite, a grandson of Morris R. Waite, Chief Justice of the United States; 
4. Margaret. 
IL Yoder Brown, died; unmarried. 
in. Knox Brown, married Adeline Watson, had — 

I. Pauline; 2. Yoder; 3. John Watson; 4. Barret; 5. Joseph Baily; 6. Rhodes. 



18 




W". R. Oelzn, Pliotograrlier 

Erected 1835 by Hon. John Brown, for his son, Orlando. 
Today occupied by his great grand children. 

The old pioneer desiring that his two children might share equally in 
his estate, erected in 1835 for his son Orlando, on the South corner of his 
lot, another beautiful and spacious dwelling of Georgian Architecture, 
Orlando was Commissioner of Indian Aflfhirs and also a Journalist of 
Frankfort. His first marriage was to his first cousin Mary Watts 
Brown*' and through the marriage of their son, Orlando Jr., to Elizabeth 
Hord** who survives him, with her three children — Anne Hord, Mary 
Watts, and Mason Preston Brown, this home is today held intact, and it 
would be hard to find in America two lovelier examples of Colonial in- 
teriors surviving so many generations. Orlando Jr. served as Lieutenant- 
Colonel of the Twenty-second regiment in the Union Army under General 
D. W. Lindsey, during the Civil War. 

Last, but by no means least of this distinguished family, was the HON. 
JAMES BROWN, younger brother of John. He was born in Staunton, 
Virginia, September 11, 1766 and educated at William and Mary College, 

♦^Daughter of Dr. Preston Brown. Orlando married as his second wife, Cordelia Price, 
widow of Mr. Lucas Brodhead. 
♦^Daughter of Judge Lysander B., and Anne (Price), Hord, of Frankfort. 



19 




By Matthew Jouett 

Hon. James Broiin 



but removed to Lexington, Kentucky, 1789. He commanded a company 
of riflemen under General Wilkinson 1791 and was appointed, a year 
later, the first Secretary of State of Kentucky, by Governor Isaac Shelby, 
its first Governor. Removing to Frankfort when the seat of Government 
was brought there, he for a number of years made his home with his 
brother John, but soon after the cession of the Louisiana Territory, he 
settled in New Orleans, when he became Secretary of the Territory, and 
subsequently United States District Attorney. Becoming the first United 
States Senator after that state was admitted into the Union, December i, 
1812, he served two terms but resigned December 10, 1823 when President 
Monroe appointed him Minister to France, where he remained six years, it 
being by his hands that the Monroe Doctrine was transmitted to the French 
Government. A second document of importance which James Brown took 
with him to France was the letter of February 24, 1824 from President 
Monroe to LaFayette, in which he stated that Congress, by resolution, 
authorized him to send a frigate to convey the Marquis de LaFayette for 
a visit to this country. 

He had a distinguished and successful carreer and possessed a most 
graceful and charming personality. He married Nancy Piart, a sister of 
Mrs. Henry Clay. His death occurred suddendly in Philadelphia April 
7, 1835. 

In the two beautiful old homes built by Hon. John Brown can be 

20 



seen portraits of these pioneer brothers, including Dr. Samuel Brown,*^ 
the celebrated physician and scientist, painted by noted English and Ameri- 
can artists of the day, forever a testimony to their distinguished appearance. 

*^Dt. Samuel Brown, first Professor of Medicine of Transylvania and the great western coun- 
try, was born January 30, 1769 in Virginia, son of Rev. John and Margaret (Preston) Brown, 
and grandson of John and Elizabeth (Patton) Preston. 

He was professor of Chemistry, Anatomy and Surgery at Transylvania University, Lex- 
ington, Ky., 1799, and to whom we are indebted for the first introduction into the west of the 
prophvlactic use of the Cowpox. In 1802, he had vaccinated upwards of five hundred per- 
sons, when New York and Philadelphia physicians were just making their first experimental 
attempts. It was used in Lexington even before Jenner could gain the confidence of the people 
of his own country. He was a classmate in Edinburgh, Scotland, of Dr. Ephriam McDowell, of 
Danville, Kj-., the world renowned pioneer in Ovariotomy Surgery. 

Transylvania University had its origin at Danville, or Urows Station, near by, November, 
1783; the Seminary removed to Lexington, 1789, and was established there December 2, 1798. 
It was the third Medical college in the United States. The Law Department was organized 
by Colonel George Nicholas, a soldier of the Revolution, and member of the Virginia Con- 
ventions. 




T/ie Third State Capitol, 1827 



Caufield & Shook, Photographeis 



21 




Painted by Matthew Jouett 



Courtesy of the Kciituckj- Historical Society. 

Marquis de LaFayette. 



22 




\V. B. Oe'7a Photosr.-iphor 

Home of Justice Thomas Todd of the Supreme Court of the United 
States, <iL-here LaFaytte ivas entertained at dinner, May 9, 1825. 



CONTEMPORANEOUS with these men in the early formation of 
Kentucky, and destined to become one of its most eminent citizens 
was THOMAS TODD, Justice of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. 

Springing from an old and distinguished line of Thomas Todds of 
Virginia and Maryland, who intermarried with many other families of note, 
he added honor to the name he bore. He was born January 23, 1765 in 
King and Queen County, \^irginia, son of Richard Todd and left an 
orphan and through the financial embarrassment of his guardian, he was 
at an early age thrown on his own resources. He fought in the Revolution 
towards the close of the War, after which he resided for a time in the home 
of his kinsman, Harry Innis, ( subsequently the first Chief Justice of 
Kentucky) and removed with that family to Danville Kentucky, 1783, 
teaching the daughters by day and studying law by night by the light 
of the log fire. He made his first effort at Madison Old Court House, 
his slender outfit consisting of a horse, saddle and bridle and thirty seven 
and a half cents in money. But when the Court rose, he had enough to 

23 



meet his current expenses and returned home with the bonds for two 
cows and calves and the usual fees of that day. Though but nineteen years 
of age, he was chosen and acted as clerk of the first convention ever held in 
that place, and of all the succeeding Conventions in Kentucky, until 
the establishment of the state in 1792. He represented Kentucky in the 
Virginia Legislature before Kentucky was declared a State j was one of 
the electors of the Senate j Clerk of the old Federal Court in the District, 
and upon the establishment of the Court of Appeals under the Second Con- 
stitution, 1799, was appointed its first clerk. At the age of thirty six he 
was appointed a judge of the Court of Appeals and at forty, its Chief 
Justice. 

When the Seventh United States Circuit was formed, composed of 
Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio, President Jefferson appointed him an 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, commission- 
ed March 3, 1807.*^ It being necessary to bring to the deliberation of 
the Supreme Court, some one well versed in the peculiar land laws of that 
vast Western region, it is said that Jefferson in making his decision, re- 
quested each member of Congress from the States in this Circuit, to com- 
municate a nomination of their first and second choice and that the name 
of Todd appeared on every list, although personally unknown to many 
of his supporters. 

His decisions while on the Court of Appeals laid the foundation of the 
Land Laws of his State and his perfect familiarity with questions of this 
character gave him later a controlling influence with his associate brothers 
on the Supreme Court of the United States. This latter position he held 
until his death February 7, 1826. 

At a meeting of the members of the Frankfort Bar, John J. Critten- 
den being called to the chair, the resolution was adopted: 

"That in consideration of the acknowledged virtues and dis- 
tinguished talents, learning and character of the deceased and high 
respect and esteem entertained for him by the Bar, they will attend 
the funeral on tomorrow and wear crape on the left arm for a space 
of thirty days." 

It was said of him by Mr. Justice Story: 

"He was patient and candid, in investigation, clear anci sagacious in 
judgment, with a just respect for authority" * * * * "diffident and re- 
tiring in his habits, he won the enviable respect of his associates." 

He had removed to Frankfort when the seat of the Government of 
Kentucky was ^brought there, and today his old honie can be seen on the 

*iThis appointment was particularly flattering to Kentucky, as Jefferson had only two years 
previously appointed Hon. John Breckinridge of Fayette County, Attorney General of United 
States. He was the first Kentuckian to serve in the Cabinet. 

24 



northeast corner of Wapping and Washington streets, a handsome two 
story brick house of square Colonial outline, whose gabled roof and 
epacious rooms have sheltered Todds even unto the fifth generation. 

By his first wife, Elizabeth Harris, of Pennsylvania, was his eldest*^ 
son CHARLES STEWART TODD, born near Danville, Kentucky, Janu- 
ary 22, 1 79 1. He graduated at William and Mary College, Virginia and 
studied law with his father, afterward attended lectures at Leitchfield Con- 
necticut under celebrated instructors and at Transylvania University, Lex- 
ington, Ky. from which Institute so many emiment physicians and lawyers 
have gone forth. 

He volunteered in 1812 and was on the staflF of General William 
Henry Harrison, as Division Judge Advocate of Kentucky troops and rose 
rapidly to the rank of brevet-Colonel of Cavalry. When the war was 
over, he located in Frankfort to practice Law. He was Secretary of State 
of Kentucky under Governor George Madison and was later a member of 
the Kentucky Legislature. 

Upon his return, after having served as charge de' affairs to Columbia, 
South America, where he was appointed in 1823, he retired to a farm in 
Shelby County, Kentucky, when in just recognition of his scientific knowl- 
edge, he became President of the State Agricultural Society. A second 
and greater recognition of his knowledge of this science, was received some 
years later. While acting under the appointment of President Tyler 
as Minister Plenipotentiary to Russia, the Czar made him a member of 
the Imperial Agricultural Society, an honor but rarely conferred on a 
foreigner. 

In iSijo he was one of the three Commissioners to treat with the 
Indians on the Mexican border and drew up the final report of the Com- 
mission to the Government. 

In appearance he was said to have resembled Louis Philippe. 

He married Letitia, daughter of Governor Isaac Shelby and Thomas,*" 
one of his several children, commanded a company in the Mexican War. 
He died May 14, 1871, while on a visit to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

The second son of Mr. Justice Todd — John Harris Todd — married 
his first cousin, the beautiful Maria Knox Innis, (daughter of Chief 
Justice Harry Innis), who afterwards became the second wife of John J. 

*iOther children were John Harris Todd; Elizabeth, Mrs. John Hannah; and Maria, Mrs. 
Edmund Starling. 

*-Other children were, Dr. Charles H. Todd, married Rosa Biirwell; Letitia, married Dr. 
John Carter; Virginia, married Daniel Moseley Griffith, of Owensboro. 



25 



Crittenden.*^ Through their son, Harry I. Todd, they were the grand- 
parents of REAR ADMIRAL CHAPMAN COLEMAN TODD, born 
April 5, 1848 in the two story brick house on the Southeast corner of 
Main and Washington Street, directly behind the Todd homestead. In 
1862, the Civil War being in progress, there was need for an increase in 
the United States Navy — hence his appointment to Annapolis before the 
age of fourteen, the appointment being made by his step-grandfather, 
Hon. John J. Crittenden, then a Representative in Congress. 

Admiral Todd served in the Spanish-American War. He was also 
commander of the first exploration up the headwaters of the Orinoco and 
Amazon Rivers, retiring from the Navy after forty-five years of service, 
with the rank of Rear Admiral. 

He was twice married, first to Ann Mary Thornton, a sister of the wife 
of Admiral Watson j next to Eliza James*" who is the mother of his son 
Chapman Coleman Todd Jr., a Lieutenant Commander in the United 
States Navy, who participated in the late War. 

While serving on the supreme bench at Washington, Mr. Justice Todd 
was a frequent visitor at the White House during the administration of 
President James Madison. There he wooed and won Lucy Payne (widow 
of George Steptoe Washington) a sister of the peerless Dolly Madison. 
This was the first wedding ever performed in the White House. ( 1812) 

*'The eldest son of this second marriage, James Madison Todd, in- 
herited the homestead, where he lived to an advanced age, surrounded by 
a large family.*^ President Madison, General LaFayette and many dis- 
tinguished men have been entertained within these walls. 

When General LaFayette, accompanied by his son, George Washington 
LaFayette, his secretary, Auguste Levasseur*" and ever faithful servant 
Bastienne visited Frankfort on May 9, 1825, seven military companies 
and a large number of private citizens in carriages and on horseback rode 
for miles out the public highway to meet and escort him into town. Mr. 
Justice Todd and his small son, James Madison, were among the riders, 
as it was at the Todd residence that he was to be entertained at dinner that 
evening, before he repaired to the "Weisiger House" for a ball in his 
honor. 



*iTheir children were Captain Harry I. Todd, who married Jane Davidson; Catherine 
Lucy "Kitty," who married her step-brother Thomas Leonidas Crittenden; and Elizabeth 
Anne, who married William Henry Watson. 

*-I)aughter of Judge Andrew James of Frankfort. 

*"Other children of Mr. Justice Todd by his second marriage were, — William Johnston Todd, 
»vho married Miss Swain; Dolly Madison Todd, married Mr. Vaughan. 

*-*The children of James Madison Todd and Allisonia Bibb Renick were, — Alexander, married 
Alice Gay; Lucy Payne; William Johnston; Ann Mary; Letitia Lee, married Robert Arthur 
•'eter of Louisville; Allisonia; and James Madison, Jr., married Miss Ross. 

*''From the many notes made by Levasseur, he subsequently compiled a book of his travels. 

26 



It is said that upon the gala occasion of LaFayette's entrance into 
Frankfort from Louisville, the St. Clair bridge over which he passed, 
was garlanded with flowers, the young boys of the town formed them- 
selves into a military company, while the little girls ran through the 
streets strewing flowers in his path. The Legislature of Kentucky ap- 
propriated over eight thousand dollars towards the entertainment of 
LaFayette and to defray the expenses of his accepted invitation to visit 
Kentucky. An original invition to the ball at the "Weisiger House" can be 
seen frameci and hanging in the Kentucky Historical Society Building at 




Painted hy Matthew Jouett 

Mrs. Thomas Todd, nee Lucy Payne 




PaiiiteJ by Matthew Jouett 

Justice Thomas Todd 



Frankfort, as can also be seen the supurb life size portrait of him, painted 
by the famous Kentucky Artist, Matthew Jouett, by order of the Legis- 
lature and Governor Desha during his stay in Washington in the winter 
of 1825, Jouett having received $1500.00 for the work*^ Thus with 
the whole of the United States acclaiming him, LaFayette passed from 
one triumph to another, visiting the twenty-four states of the Union 
during his sojourn of fifteen months in this country. 

*^From the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 



27 




W . B. Oelza, Pho'oerapher 
The Burnley Home, built by Mr. John B. Bibb 

FEW MEN have attained the dignity of the bench at so early an age, 
and left so enduring an imprint upon the courts of Kentucky as did 
HON. GEORGE MORTIER BIBB, born in Virginia, October 30, 
1776, son of Rev. Richard Bibb, a distinguished minister of the Episcopal 
Church. He graduated at Hampton Sydney and William and Mary 
Colleges, Virginia and in 1798 removed to Kentucky, where he rose rapidly 
through his solid legal attainments until considered one of the most able 
lawyers of the state. When but thirty years of age, he was appointed one of 
the Judges of the Court of Appealsj^ and the following year its Chief- 
Justice. Succeeding Henry Clay in the United States Senate he served two 
terms and served nine years as Chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court, 
gaining great distinction as such. This later position he resigned to be- 
come Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President John Tyler. 
At the close of that administration he entered upon the practice of the 
law in the District of Columbia and also acted as assistant in the office 
of the Attorney-General United States. He died April 14, 1859 in 
Georgetown, D. C. "eminent in his profession, able and noted." 



28 



He was the last representative to wear knee breeches at the National 
Capitol. 

His first wife was Martha, a daughter of General and Governor 
Charles Scott (a General in the Revolution and fifth Governor of Ken- 
tucky) and through their daughter Frances Ann, descended the Burnley 
family, who constituted one of Frankfort's most esteemed households for 
a half century.*^ 

The home owned and occupied by Judge Bibb for many years, is an old 
fashioned two story house on Washington Street, which is still standing 
with its same quaint New England entrance. It is but one half square out 
of my boundary and has long since passed from the possession of the Bibb 
family, but in the lovely old two story, gabled roofed brick house of his 
brother, Mr. John B. Bibb, on Wapping Street, have lived the Burnley fam- 
ily for several generations, it now being occupied by Misses Fannie and Ann 
Mary Crittenden, great grand-daughters of George M. Bibb and grand- 
daughters of John J. Crittenden. 

But the most prominent of his descendants, and of the men and women 
of Frankfort without whom no social account could be complete and to 
whom the author is indebted, through personal interviews, for the nucleus 
of information contained in this article, is his grand-daughter MARTHA 
ANN, better known as "MISS PATTY BURNLEY." In her death at her 
home above mentioned on Wapping Street, November i6, 19 19, not only 
Frankfort, but the state of Kentucky lost one of its most distinguished 
women. And it can be truly said of her that she died eighty-eight years 
)'oung, with her brilliant mind lasting to the end — an ornament to any 
society. 

She was born July 2, 1831 at "Cornland," Daveiss County Kentucky, 
the country seat of her honored grandfather. Judge Bibb. Her father, 
Albert S. Burnley, was the son of an English gentleman who emigrated 
to Virginia. 

At an early age Miss Burnley removed with her parents to Washington 
City where her father was prominently engaged in the newspaper business j 
while she, as a pupil of Madam Conde's famous French School in New 
York City, became a most proficient French scholar. This accomplishment 
she retained throughout life and at the age of eighty-six years, she by re- 
quest, assumed the position of "Official Letter Writer" for many of the 

*J Among other children were Titus Pompon! us Atticus, George N. ami Mary Lucy Poca- 
hontas, who rests in the lone grave at Paroquet Springs, Ky. Judge Bibb married a second 
time in Washington City, and left several children. 



29 



people of Frankfort, adopting French orphans, during the World War. 

Her girlhood was spent in New York and the National Capital, where 
she was heir to the highest social advantages that wealth and position bring. 

Her father's health becoming impaired a few years prior to the 
Civil War, in order that he might be near his daughter, Harriet, wife of 
Mr. Robert Crittenden, he returned to Frankfort and bought the home 
of Mr. William D. Reed on Main between Wilkinson and Washington 
Streets*^ but lived only a few years to enjoy it. 

At the beginning of the Civil War her only brother, George Bibb 
Burnley espoused the Southern cause and went South. Desiring to be 
near him, his mother with her two unmarried daughters, Patty and 
Lucy, sold their home and soon followed, remaining South until the war 
closed and throughout Miss Burnley's life no sentiment was ever dearer 
to her heart than the cuase of the Confederacy. 

With the loss in battle of her cherished brother and the already im- 
paired fortunes that most Southerners sustained, they returned once 
more to Frankfort, a short time before the death of Mrs. John B. Bibb, 
when their uncle invited them to make their home with him. It is here 
that "Miss Patty" spent the last fifty years of her life, the most beloved 
of women, an aristocrat in the highest sense, of a time honored race, whose 
portraits by the finest masters hung about her. Herself a musician, her 
home was the rendezvous for poets, artists and musicians, all seeking her 
commendation, charming men and women, young and old, with her stately 
presence, her keen perceptions and wit, while with her delightful conver- 
sation, she combined the almost rarer art of listening. Her strong relig- 
ious faith and love for the Episcopal Church were deep rooted.*" 

It was remarked by one of Kentucky's most travelled and charming 
women, that she had rarely, if ever, been in any prominent social com- 
munity throughout the country but that some especially representative citi- 
zen had inquired for "Miss Patty Burnley."*'' 

*lNow owned by Mrs. Robert Pepper. 

*-The late Mrs. Louise Welch Labrot was my source for most of my information concerning 
the life of Miss Burnley. 

*^Mrs. Simon Bolivar Buckner. 



30 




W. B. Oelza, Photographer 



Home of Hon. John Jordan Crittenden, built about i8oo 
Birth place of Adm. John Crittenden IVatson 



THE name of Crittenden in Kentucky stands parallel with that of Pink- 
ney of South Carolina, Stuy\'esant of New York or Adams of Mas- 
sachusetts and no man was more honored by both State and Nation 
than HON. JOHN JORDAN CRITTENDEN. He survived his illus- 
trious compeers Clay, Calhoun and Webster and at the time of his death had 
no peer in the Nation j and of whom it was said "preeminently advanced the 
glory and honor of his native Kentucky." 

His father, Major John Crittenden, the progenitor of the family of 
that name in Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas, was an officer in the 
Revolution and as Captain-Lieutenant, an original member of the Society 
of the Cincinnati, who at the close of the Revolution became one of the 
early pioneer settlers in Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1783. He 
marrieci Judith Harris of Virginia and was the father of the four talented 
sons, John Jordan j Thomas T., Secretary of State of Kentucky under 
Governor Metcalfe and for many years Judge of the Federal District 
Court j Robert, who became Territorial Governor of Arkansas, was a lead- 
ing lawyer and served that state in Congress j Henry C, who married Anne 

31 



Maria Allen and became the father of Col. William Logan Crittenden, who 
sacrificed his life in the Lopez expedition against Cuba (1850-51). When 
captured at Cardenas and ordered to turn his back to the enemy and kneel 
before the firing squad, refusing to be blindfolded, he replied: "A Ken- 
tuckian kneels to none except his God, and always dies facing his enemy," 
so with his own hand, he gave the signal for the volley of musketry, and 
died standing, facing the guns. His brother, Thomas Theodore, married 
Carrie Jackson of Frankfort and removed to Missouri, where he practiced 
law until elected Governor of that State and was twice a member of Con- 
gress. He too, must be added to my illustrious list, as for some years he 
supported himself by clerking in the general land office of Kentucky, while 
residing and studying Law with his uncle, John J. Crittenden, in Frankfort. 

John Jordan Crittenden was born September 10, 1786 in Woodford 
County, Kentucky. He attended Washington Academy and graduated at 
William and Mary College. He studied law under the celebrated George 
M. Bibb and in his profession exhibited so rare gifts that he soon rose 
rapidly into public favor. Although, in his profession an orator of great 
persuasive powers, eloquence and magnetism, possessing that peculiar 
power of oratory that can charm the learned and the ignorant at the same 
time and though probably the greatest criminal lawyer of his day, he found 
politics much more congenial and devoted his life to public service. 

He was Attorney-General of the Territory of Illinois 1809-115 was 
ten times elected to the Kentucky Legislature, being four times made 
speaker of the house. 

Serving in the War of 1 8 1 2, he was aid to Generals Ramsey, Hopkins 
and Shelby and while with the latter, rendered distinguished service at 
the battle of the Thames. He was in 1827 appointed U. S. District At- 
torney, but was removed after two years by President Jackson to whom he 
was radically opposed. He was Secretary of State of Kentucky j five 
times United States Senator, and twice Attorney General of the United 
States — appointments by William Henry Harrison and Millard Filmore. 
After the death of President Harrison, he retired to fill the unexpired 
term of Henry Clay in the United States Senate. 

Having been elected by the Whig party. Governor of Kentucky 1848, 
he resigned after two years to accept the appointment in the cabinet of 



32 



Fillmore. There are still in existence interesting old bank notes on which 
are printed pictures of Governor Crittenden and his wife, nee, Maria 
Knox Innis. 




lilVt/VfTii'Tiwiiiiiii 






In the Senate, he was the advocate of measures looking to the adjust- 
ment of difficulties between the states j was an ardent and outspoken 
supporter of Clay's Compromise Measures, and was the author of the 
celebrated "Crittenden Compromise j" President of the "Border State 
Convention" at PVankfort 1861, and although opposed to confiscation, the 
proclamation of the Emancipation and the enlistment of negro soldiers, 
Jie regarded these of minor importance and stood firmly for the Union. 
In 1 861, he was elected to the Lower House of Congress and had just 
completed his term in that body when he died in Frankfort July 26, 1863. 

He was married three times: first 181 1 to Sarah O. Lee*^ daughter 
of Major John Lee, one of the Incorporators and trustees of Transylvania 
University. 

The eldest of his children, Ann Mary Crittenden, from early youth 
gave promise of her future career. She was but eleven years of age 
when General Lafayette arrived in Frankfort on May 9, 1825 and upon 
the occasion of an open air entertainment given the following day in his 
honor, she was lifted upon an elevation that she might read aloud an 
original and most dramatic poem written to him. There were two copies 
made of this and printed in gold letters on white satin — one for him and 
one to be kept for herself. She became scholarly in her attainments, trans- 
lating a number of books for publication from both the French and 
German languages, besides being an authoress of ability and the biographer 
of her noted father. She married Chapman Coleman and through her 

*iBy whom he had Ann Mary; George Bibb; Cornelia, who became the second wife of 
Rev. John Clark Young, President of Centre College, Danville, Ky. ; Thomas Leonidas; 
Robert, who married Harriet Burnley; Eugenia, who died in youth, and Sallie Lee "Maria." 



33 



several daughters, was the ancestress of representative families of Ken- 
tucky. 

Her son CHAPMAN COLEMAN, JR. who was at a German Uni- 
versity when the Civil War broke out, returned to become a private in de- 
fense of States Rights and his native Southland. He was for twenty years 
First Secretary of the American Legation at Berlin, having been first 
appointed by President Grant j then Consul to Roubaix France. He served 
in the State Deparment at Washington and afterwards was for seven years 
Consul at Rome. Alhough the greater part of his life was spent in foreign 
countries, it was to Kentucky and this corner that he returned for his 
bride, Jane Swigert Hendrick (daughter of Dr. J. R. Hendrick) whose 
home was "The Terraces." This palatial colonial brick homestead was 
built by her maternal grandfather, Mr. Philip Swigert, in the spacious lot 
on the southeast corner of Wapping and Washington Streets, the garden 
of which is terraced down to the water's edge, the home today being oc- 
cupied by the fifth generation. 

Two of Mr. Crittenden's sons became distinguished during the Civil 
War. Like many another father of that period in Kentucky, he saw his 
house divided against itself. Receiving the communication that the 
two armies were assembling for battle in Tennessee and that a beloved son 
was a participant on either side, he as a member of Congress, secured a 
special permit and under a flag of truce, visited them both on the eve 
of battle. 

The eldest, GEORGE BIBB CRITTENDEN, was educated under 
the celebrated Professor, B. B. Sayre and then graduated at West Point 
1832, but resigned after a year of service to study law with his father 
and subsequently at Transylvania University. With many other Ken- 
tuckians, he was engaged in the war between Texas and Mexico, 1842, 
when they were captured and imprisoned for nearly a year at Matamoras 
and Mexico City. During this period the Mexicans issued an edict that 
a certain proportion of the prisoners should be shot, the decision being 
made by the drawing of white and black beans from a box. Young 
Crittenden as an officer, was among the first to draw and being successful 
slipped his bean to his intimate friend near by who had a wife and family 
at home, and for himself took the chance of a second draw, when again 
he was successful. Upon his release, a friend of his father's in Mexico 
City gave him a horse, saddle, bridle and blankets and money to return 
home, but seeing a comrade ill and more needy, he once more effaced self, 
giving the horse and equipment to him, and made his own way home with 
the others less fortunate. In 1846 he received an appointment as Captain 

34 



of Mounted Riflemen, later breveted Major for gallantry and served 
during the Mexican War under General Winfield Scott, participating in 
all of the battles from Vera Cruz to the capture of Mexico. He returned 
to the regular army and rose to the rank of Colonel by 1856 and saw- 
service on the frontier until 1861, when his strong Southern convictions 
caused him to resign to enter the cause of the Confederacy, leaving the 
service with the rank of Major General Confederate States Army. 

THOMAS LEONIDAS, the second son of John J. Crittenden, was also 
educated under Professor Sayre, but later studied law with his father and 
entered upon the practice with much promise. He too, served in the 
Mexican War and was Aide to General Zachary Taylor, to whom through 
his mother, he was related and was appointed by President Taylor, a 
Consul to Liverpool, England 1849-53. In 1861 he succeeded General 
Simon Bolivar Buckner as Inspector General of Kentucky, which office he 
vacated when appointed Brigadier General of Volunteers in the Union 
Army — was advanced to Major General and served to the close of the 
War. He retired to pri^'ate life, but was afterwards commissioned Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel in the Regular Army, breveted Brigadier General 1867, 
remaining in the service until retired 1881 on account of age. 

He married his step-sister Catherine Lucy Todd and his only child 
Avas the gallant young Lieutenant John J. Crittenden, 3rd, who though 
but twenty-one years of age, was on the staff of General Custer and killed 
with him in that fatal massacre. His remains with many of those noble 
dead, were afterwards with much ceremony, removed to that hallowed 
hill-top above Frankfort. 

Although having been reared in the home of his father on the south- 
west corner of Main and Washington Streets, General Crittenden at one 
period of his married life, occupied the two story frame house on the north- 
w^est corner of Wilkinson and Main Streets, which is still standing, sur- 
rounded by extensive lawn and garden. 

Sallie Lee, called "Maria" Crittenden, married Edward Howe Watson, 
and was the mother of REAR ADMIRAL JOHN CRITTENDEN 
WATSON who served in the United States Navy until retired at the age 
of sixty-two, with the rank of Rear Admiral. 

During the Civil War he was Flag-Lieutenant on the Staff of Admiral 
Farragut on the Hartford and was present at the capture of Mobile Bay. 
He commanded a vessel in the Spanish-American War and was Naval 
Representative of the United States Government at the Coronation of 



35 



King Edward VII — a fine Naval Officer and most beloved by kindred and 
friends. 

His wife was Elizabeth Thornton, a grand-daughter of Chief Justice, 
Harry Innis. Three of his sons are military officers of their country — 
Edward Howe, a Captain United States Navy; Thornton, a Colonel United 
States Army and Alexander Mackenzie, a Major in the United States 
Marine Corps. 

Admiral Watson was born the 24h of August 1842, in the home of his 
honored grandfather, John J. Crittenden, where also was born his son, 
John J. Crittenden Watson Jr., who has served as Consul at several 
diiferent foreign posts. *^ 

Upon the marriage of Mr. Crittenden to the widow Todd, she removed 
to the Crittenden home with her several small Todds. Elizabeth Anne 
Todd married William Henry Watson, a brother of "Maria" Crittenden's 
husband, and here the step-sisters, inseparable, with their Watson families, 
eventually returned to live in this complicated family connection, in love 
and harmony unsurpassed in a family's history until their children were 
reared and married from their door. 

Governor Crittenden's third wife, nee, Elizabeth Moss, had also 
been previously twice married; first to General Daniel Wilcox of the 
United States Army; and secondly to General William Ashly. With 
such deep affection was Mr. Crittenden held by his two sets of step children 
and step-grandchildren and so closely were they associated with his home 
and life, it is regretable that the lack of space prevents individual mention. 

When we see the quaint old low two story brick house abutting on the 
street, with no particular architectural merit — save for the classic doorway, 
a noble example of Colonial design — and from the outer walls suggest- 
ing by no means a spacious interior, we feel that this dwelling must have 
been blessed by love, as were the loaves and fishes and made to go around. 
The house came into the possession of Mr. Crittenden when he removed to 
Frankfort in 18 19, it having been built probably by Dr. Joseph Scott as it 
was occupied by him for many years. The land had once been the 
property of Aaron Burr, doubtless a speculative purchase in the early 
settling of Frankfort, through the intimate friendship of General Wilkin- 
son. 

When Daniel Webster and his family arrived in Frankfort on Friday, 
May 31, 1837, he like General LaFayette, was met a few miles out of the 
city by gentlemen on horseback and escorted to the home of Mr. Critten- 
den, where they visited until the following Monday, when they left for 

•^Other children of Admiral Watson are: — Anne Mary; Sarah Thornton; ami Loyall Farragiit. 

36 



Louisville. The citizen's of hVankfort of all parties united in giving them 
a hearty welcome and on Saturday a large barbecue, characteristic of the 
day, was prepared for them on the banks of the beautiful Elkhorn Creek. 
Mr. Webster's speech upon that occasion was long remembered with pride 
and pleasure. 

On 1^'ebruary 19, 1848, President-elect Zachary Taylor, on the eve 
of his Innauguration, paid a visit to Governor Crittenden. Arriving by 
boat, he was met at the landing by the niembers of the Legislature, the 
old Mexican soldiers and many other citizens who escorted him to the 
mansion. 

The semi-circular carriage step in front of this home was one of the 
two presented to Mr. Crittenden, It having been the door step of the first 
State Capitol. 

There is a celebrated marble bust of Governor Crittenden, by Joel T. 
Hart, while portraits have been painted of him by the famous artists, 
Matthew Jouett and Molse and Fowler, the latter always painting together. 



37 



CONTEMPORANEOUS with John J. Crittenden, the gifted More- 
heads and Robert Letcher, was HON. THOMAS METCALFE, 
born in Fauquier County Virginia, March 20, 1780. 

The first of the family in this country, John Metcalfe, emigrated 
from Yorkshire England and settled in Virginia. He was a graduate of 
Cambridge and for many years after his arrival, was the principal of 
a Seminary.*^ His son, John, after serving as a Captain in the Revolution- 
ary War, emigrated to Nicholas County Kentucky 1785. He was married 
three times, his last wife, the widow of Eli Chinn, nee Rhoda Dent, of 
Maryland, having been the mother of my sketch. 

Thomas Metcalfe received an ordinary English education and at the age 
of sixteen owing to the limited finances of his father, the old soldier, pion- 
neer and father of sixteen children, he was apprenticed to an elder brother 
and became a stone mason. It is even claimed that he came to Frankfort 
and worked on the Governor's mansion, which he eventually occupied. 
His inherent intellect and fine public spirit was destined for other things 
and he was soon recognized as a dominant factor in the local affairs of his 
community, when in 181 2, he was elected to the Kentucky Legislature from 
Nicholas County and re-elected for several terms. 

He raised a company of Volunteers in 18 13 and fought gallantly at 
Fort Meigs. Five years later, elected to Congress, he was continuously 
re-elected until 1828, when he became Governor of Kentucky as the can- 
didate of the National Republican Party. He once more servfcd in 
the Legislature and as President of the State Board of Internal Improve- 
ments, and subsequenly filled the unexpired term of John J. Crittenden, 
in the United States Senate. It was his speech at Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, which nominated William Henry Harrison for the Presidency. 

He possessed great force of character and was one of the most eloquent 
men of his day. Metcalfe County was named in his honor. The position 
of Secretary of War was offered him, but on account of failing health, he 
declined it and spent the latter years of his life at his old home "Forest 
Retreat," Nicholas County, Kentucky where he died of cholera in 1855. 

He was proud of his early struggles and delighted in being called, 
"The Old Stone Hammer." 

His private residence while in Frankfort was on Main near Washing- 
ton Street and his life and interests closely associated with his distinguished 
neighbors. 



*iHe married Diana Gratkins of Virginia. 

38 



To the Morehead family alone, was given the honor of boasting three 
Governors of Kentucky, two of whom, James T. and Charles S. Morehead, 
are subjects of my sketch, while General Simon Bolivar Buckner (whose 
mother was Elizabeth Ann Morehead, first cousin of the other two) officer 
in the United States Armyj distinguished General in the Confederate 
States Army J eminent Governor of Kentucky and nominee for the vice- 
Presidency with General John M. Palmer, 1896, was, I regret to say, at 
no tim.e a resident of this inspired corner — hence can not be dwelt upon 
as his noble record deserves. 

A fourth member of this family connection, John Motley Morehead, 
removed to North Carolina and was elected Governor of that state in 
1845 and President of the old National Whig Convention which nominat- 
ed Zachary Taylor for President. 

The first of the family in this country was Charles Morehead who 
emigrated from Scotland and settled in the Northern neck of Virginia 
1630. His great-great-grandson, HON. JAMES TURNER MORE- 
HEAD, was born in Bullitt County, Kentucky May 24, 1797, the son of 
Armstead Morehead and a Miss Latham. 

After graduating at Transylvania University, he studied law under 
Judge H. P. Broadnax and subsequently John J. Crittenden and in 1828 
was elected to the Legislature, serving several terms. He was a delegate 
to Baltimore to the convention which nominated Henry Clay for the 
Presidency and was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Kentucky, 1832, but 
on the death of Governor Breathitt two years later, was inaugerated Gov- 
ernor, filling that position most creditably for the remaining two years. Re- 
turning to the practice of Law in Frankfort, he was again elected to the 
Legislature. He was appointed by that body, 1839, a Commissioner to 
the State of Ohio, to secure the passage of a law protecting the slave proper- 
ty of Kentuckians. From 1841-47, he took a high position in the United 
States Senate, being a most excellent debater and a graceful and fluent 
speaker. He was a lawyer of much ability, a scholarly and painstaking 
writer who gave valuable contributions to the biographies and adventures 
of the early pioneer settlers of Kentucky and added materially to 
preserving the early history of our state. 

He was twice married j*^ three of his sons fought for the cause of 
the Confederacy, while his daughter Lucy, as widow of Judge Bruce 
Porter, was twice appointed by President Grant, Postmistress at Louis- 
ville, Ky. His youngest and only surviving child, Albert Hodges More- 

*lHe married first Susan Roberts of Kentucky, had, i. Robert; 2- Joseph; 3. Lucy; 4. James. 
He married second, Lavinia Espy of Columbus, Ohio, had. 5. Theodore; 6. Maria; 7. Josiah; 
t. Henry; 9. Frank; 10. Albert Hodges. 

39 



head, is a Professor at Baylor University, Waco Texas, 

Having died at his home in Covington, Ky., 1854, a year later his 

remains were brought to Frankfort and interred with great ceremony. 

General John Marshall Harlan (afterwards Justice of the United States 

Supreme Court) was Chief Marshal and many visitors from throughout 

the state were present. 

A portrait of him painted by Matthew Jouett, was presented by his 

grand-daughter to the Kentucky Historical Society at Frankfort. 

For intermittent periods of time his residence was in several diiferent 

homes of this corner of the town. 




Home of Go'vernor Charles Slaughter Morehead, 
N. E. Cor. Main & Washington Streets 



\\ . B. OcUa, Photographer 



His first cousin CHARLES SLAUGHTER MOREHEAD, born 
July 7, 1802 in Nelson County Kentucky, was the only son of Charles 
Morehead who married Miss Slaughter of Virginia and who fought under 
Light Horse Harry Lee's command, being at the Surrender of Corn- 
wallace. He was frequently in both House and Senate of the Kentucky 
Legislature. 

Charles Slaughter, like his distinguished cousin, was a graduate of 

40 



Tmnsyh'ania University. He was many times a member of the Ken- 
tucky Legislature and often made speaker of the House. While Attorney 
General of Kentucky, under his cousin's Gubernatorial Administration, he 
with Judge Mason Brown, wrote a Digest of the Statute Laws of Ken- 
tuck)-. He served one term in Congress; was elected Governor of Ken- 
tuck)- 1855, making Judge Brown his Secretary of State. 

Having been appointed a delegate to the Peace Conference at Washing- 
ton 1 86 1 and subsequently at the Border State Convention which met at 
T->ankfort, he in every possible way, used his influence to avert the Civil 
War. In September, without Charge or Warrant, he was arrested on 
suspicion of favoring the secession of Kentucky and was secretly conveyed 
across the Ohio — thence incarcerated in Fort LaFayette, New York, for 
a year. He lost niuch property during the War. 

He married Margaret Le\-y of Woodford County, Kentucky and his 
son Franklin C, was nameci for the County which had given him such 
an overwhelming majority during his Gubernatorial race.*" 

His early home in Frankfort, a square two story brick house of colonial 
design, with a garden of flowers at the side, is still to be seen on the 
northeast corner of Main and Washington Streets — diagonally from the 
home of John J. Crittenden. It was built by Mr. John Harvie of 
Virginia, and occupied by him and his family for many years. 

Adjoining these grounds on Washington Street stood the Episcopal 
Parsonage, occupied by Bishop Benjamin Bosworth Smith. When con- 
secrated Bishop, he was made the first Bishop of Kentucky in 1832, he was 
Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kentucky and at the head of the 
Common School System 1840-42. In 1868, upon the death of Bishop 
Hopkins, he became Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the 
United States. Having removed to New York City, he died there May 31, 
1884 at" the age of ninety years. His three daughters, Louisa, Mrs. 
Willis Green; Virginia and Elizabeth — all lived to extreme old age and 
were long residents of this neighborhood, the latter ha\'i ng died there 
at the age of ninety-eight years. 

*2His chililren were, — i. Amanda, who married Samuel Walker; 2. William; 3. John; 4. 
Franklin C. 



41 



WHEN the old citizens of Frankfort recall the skillful violin music, 
the wit and humor and delightful anecdotes of HON. ROBERT 
PERKINS LETCHER, born February lo, 1788, in Goochland 
County, Virginia, it is not hard to realize that he was the son of Stephen 
Giles and Betsy (Perkins) Letcher, the grandson of Giles and Hannah 
(Hughes) Letcher, who emigrated to Virginia from the North 
of Ireland, both having been of Welsh decent. It is recorded in 
family documents that the Leach or Letcher family bore three crowns on 
their Coat of Arms, it having been granted by Edward III to a member 
of the family living at the time in Berkshire, who had entertained three 
Kings in his Castle at one time. 

Removing to Kentucky with his father in early youth and after 
serving in the War of 18 12, Mr. Letcher studied law under Hon. Humph- 
rey Marshall,and practiced in Garrard County Kentucky. He represent- 
ed that county several times in the Legislature and in 1822 was elected 
to Congress, serving most creditably twelve years, as a firm and consistent 
Whig and as Speaker of the House. From there he was again elected to 
the Kentucky Legislature and made Speaker of the House, when in 1840 he 
was elected Governor of Kentucky — one of his last official acts being 
the appointment of the first Thanksgiving day proclaimed in the State, 
September 26, 1844. In 1849 he was appointed by Zachary Taylor En- 
voy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Mexico, where he re- 
mained three years. 

Later he made a race for Congress, but was defeated by the Distinguish- 
ed John Cabell Breckinridge.*^ He was an able lawyer and devoted to 
the best interests of his state. A county was named in his honor. 

It was during his administration as Governor that the Legislature of 
Kentucky appropriated a sum of money to remove the remains of Daniel 
and Rebecca Boone from Missouri to Frankfort, when nearly every county 
of the state, besides many Southern and Western States were repre- 
sented at the ceremonies on September 13, 1845. They were held at 
their final resting place in that most picturesque of all cemeteries — on the 
hill top above Frankfort — which commands a view of the spires and 
towers of the classic old town below and the splendid panorama of river 

•^General John Cabell Breckinridge was born near Lexington, Ky-, 1821. He was a Majot 
in the Mexican War; twice in Congress, and as Vice-President with Buchanan, was the 
voungest man who ever held that position. He resigned his position in the United States Senate, 
where he had taken a high position as an orator and supporter of Crittenden's Compromise 
Bill, and threw himself into the Southern cause, being appointed Brigadier-General; he was 
^Iso Vice-President of the Confederacy, and one of the most revered and distinguished officers 
of the South. From his wonderful voice and command of language, he Avas one of the greatest 
•raters that Kentucky ever claimed. 

42 




Cautield & Slinok, Photofrraphers 

The Daniel Boone Monument, tablets by Launetz. Witlt glimpse of valley beloia 



and vale wending their way for miles beyond in supurb and matchless 
scenery. There was a brilliant military procession 5 the orator of the day 
was John J. Crittenden. These burials in the new State Cemetery, were 
but the beginning of a long procession of illustrious dead who have been 
laid to rest near by — 

"Nor shall your glory be forgot, 
Where Fame her record keeps, 
Or honor points the hallowed spot 
Where valor proudly sleeps.*" 

On the northwest corner of Washington and Wapping Streets stands 

*-This immortal poem, the "Bivouac of the Dead, by Theodore O'Hara, was written for 
and read at the ceremonies when the remains of the Kentuci<y soldiers who fell at Buena 
Vista, were brought to Frankfort in 1850, and interred in the State Cemetery. Soon after the 
close of the Civil War, its verses were cast upon iron slabs and placed in our National 
Cemeteries. 

Colonel O'Hara was born near Danville, Ky., 1820, but was long a resident of Franklin 
County. In the Mexican War, he was brevetted Major for galantry at Contreras. He was 
afterwards a field officer in the Lopez Expedition to Cuba. At the beginning of the Civil 
War, he was made Colonel of the Twelfth Alabama regiment C. 8. A., and subsequently 
served on the staff of Generals John C. Breckinridge and Albert Sidney Johnson, the latter 
having died in his arms at Shiloh. Colonel O'Hara having died in Alabama 1867, by a 
ipecial act of the Legislature, his remains were brought back to Frankfort and interred 
near his military colleagues of the Mexican War. 

43 



the broad two story brick house with its central hall, such as almost uni- 
versally prevails around this block, and many distinguished guests were 
entertained within its walls. *^ It is of two-fold interest, having been the 
home to which Governor Letcher retired from the Governor's Mansion 
and owned for the last sixteen years of his life. His widow, nee, 
Charlotte Robertson,*" survived him here many years, but at her death, it 
became the property of JUDGE WILLIAM LINDSAY, a profound 
lawyer and great jurist. By a historian it was said. "The history of 
Jurisprudence in Kentucky, dignified as it was by many exalted names, finds 




W. B. ()<-!za, l'li..t,,>;r,,phcr 

Home of Governor Robert P. Letcher, and later of Judge William Lindsay 

few whose powers and labors were more beneficient, fruitful and cumula- 
time than William Lindsay."*^ 

Born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, son of Andrew and Sarah Gil- 
more Davidson, and grandson of James Lindsay and Nancy McCampbell, 
of Lanarkshire, Scotland. After a liberal education, he removed to Ken- 
tucky, settling in Hickman County as a teacher, during which time he 
studied law and was admitted to the Bar at Clinton, where he continued 

*^House now owned by Dr. J. 8. Collins, whose son Paul, gave his life in the World War. 
•2Gov. Letcher married first, Mary Eden Eppes. 
•»E. Polk Johnson. 

44 



with flattering success until the Civil War, when his strong Southern con- 
victions led him to join the Confederate forces as a Lieutenant. Serving 
throughout the War, he was eventually made Captain of the Tennessee 
Regular Infantry and remained with the Second Kentucky Brigade until 
parolled as a prisoner of War, 1865. Resuming the practice of the Law, 
he was shortly afterwards elected to the State Senate, serving with such 
credit, that before the close of his term, he was elected to the Court of 
Appeals at thirty-five years of age and at forty-one, became its Chief - 
Justice, acquiring great distinction on the bench. He displayed a rare 
combination of fine talents, being a close analytical thinker, fine debater, 
mingling wit and humor with logical reasoning j of versatile powers and 
almost inexhaustable resources; an indefatigable worker, cheerful and 
sunny "a giant in stature and intellect." 

From the bench, he retired to the practice of the law in Frankfort for 
a number of years, until appointed by President Benjamin Harrison, a 
commissioner-at-Large for the Chicago Exposition and subsequently select- 
ed as one of the five Commissioners sent by the United States Govern- 
ment to Europe in the interest of the World's Columbian Exposition. He 
and his wife who accompanied him, were received with distinction in 
European cities. While still abroad, the Democratic Party again elected 
him a member of the Kentucky State Senate. The President also, ap- 
pointed him a member of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the ap- 
pointment being confirmed by the Senate but he declined the ofiice. 

John G. Carlisle having resigned from the United States Senate, to 
accept the appointment of Secretary of the Treasury under Cleveland, 
Judge Lindsay was elected to fill the unexpired term and the following 
year re-elected for a full term of six years. During that stirring period, 
1896, when the "Free coinage of silver sixteen to one," was advocated by a 
great political party, among its staunchest opponents were these two great 
Democrats, John G. Carlisle, Secretary of the Treasury and Williani Lind- 
say, then United States Senator; they were renowned for their eloquence, 
their influence being far reaching. 

He was a member during his entire service of the Judiciary Committee 
and gave unqualified support to the administration of Cleveland. 

Judge Lindsay's Senatorial ofiice expiring March 4, 1901, the follow- 
ing year he was appointed by McKinley^ a Commissioner to the St. 
Louis Exposition. From Washington, he removed to New York City 
forming a partnership of Lindsay, Palmer and Calish. Upon his arrival, 
the Legislature of Albany invited him there to be welcomed as a citizen 
of New York, after which he was entertained at lunch by the Chief 

45 



Justice of the State, while the ladies of Albany gave an evening reception 
in his honor. 

In New York City he was the Vice-President of both the "Southern 
Society" and the "Kentucky Society," and Governor of "The Virgin- 
ians." He was an officer of the Clan of Lindsay of Scotland and re- 
lated to the Earls of Crawford and Belcarres. 

In his great speeches questions Constitutional and Political were 
argued with great force of logic and clearness of reasoning, while his 
speech before the American Bar Association at Buffalo 1899, "The Power 
of the United States to acquire Foreign Territory" was the first notable 
public address defining the acquisition of foreign territory and carried 
his fame to the other hemisphere. 

His wife Henrietta Semple, was the mother of his only surviving child, 
Marion, wife of Mr. Frank O. Swere, of Cincinnati. *\ After Mrs. Lind- 
say's death he married Eleanor Holmes, daughter of Dr. George N. 
Holmes, Chief Surgeon in General Armstrong's Division of the Confeder- 
ate Army. 




The last home of Judge WiUiam Lindsay, built upon the grounds once 

occupied by Hon. James Harlan and Justice John Marshall 

Harlan, adjoining the home of Adm. Rodman 



46 



Judge Lindsay eventually purchased of Captain Harry I. Todd, the 
handsome house and extensive grounds on the northeast corner of Wapping 
and Wilkinson streets, where his widow still resides. After seven years 
at the New York Bar, because of his declining health and the great simplicity 
of his nature, he felt the call of his more tranquil Frankfort environment 
and once more returned home to begin the practice of law, which con- 
tinued until his death on October 15, 1909. 

One of the most intimate associates of Judge Lindsay's life and in his 
latter years a member of his household, was CAPTAIN THOMAS C. 
JONES, of Daviess County Kentucky, a man of most amiable and gentle 
nature. 

The first to enlist in Company A of the First Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. 
A, he became a gallant Captain, at which time he sustained an injury that 
caused permanent lameness for the rest of his life. 

He had removed to Frankfort as Clerk of the Court of Appeals for 
six years, when he was appointed by Cleveland, Consul to Funchall, 
Madeira Islands, where he served eighteen years. The remainder of his 
life was spent in the home of Judge and Mrs. Lindsay, the latter his neice. 
Judge Lindsay survived him but seven months. 




47 



ASSOCIATED with Robert P. Letcher in his administration as 
Governor, was HON. JAMES HARLAN, born June 22 1800. He 
was Commonwealth's attorney for four years; served two terms in 
Congress from Boyle County Kentucky, during the last being chairman of 
the Committee for investigating Defalcations; was Presidental elector on 
the Whig ticket, 184O; was Secretary of State under Governor Letcher; 
served two terms in the Legislature; appointed Attorney General of Ken- 
tucky and was United States District Attorney when he died February 18, 
1863. 

Upon his appointment as Secretary of State of Kentucky, 1840, he re- 
moved to Frankfort, where for a number of years he occupied the large 
three story frame house then standing in the spacious grounds on the 
northwest corner of Wapping and Wilkinson Streets, which has long since 
been supplanted by the elegant home last owned by Judge William Lind- 
say.*^ 

Here was reared one of the most striking figures ever on the Supreme 
Bench at Washington — his distinguished son, JOHN MARSHALL 
HARLAN, prophetically named in honor of the great Chief Justice of the 
United States. 

Born June i, 1833, he was but seven years of age when he removed 
from Danville, Kentucky. Receiving his early education under Professor 
B. B. Sayre, he graduated in letters at Centre College under the Presiden- 
cy of Reverend John C. Young, D. D. L. L. D. After studying law 
with his father, he graduated at Transylvania University under Chief 
Justice, George Robertson and Thomas A. Marshall and entered upon his 
profession at Frankfort. In 1858, he was elected County Judge of Frank- 
Jin, holding the position but one year, when he became the Whig or op- 
position candidate for Congress in the Ashland District and after a contest 
which attracted the attention of the entire country, he was defeated by 
the Democratic candidate, Colonel William A. Simms, of Bourbon County, 
Kentucky. 

Upon the breaking out of the Civil War, he recruited and organized 
the Tenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry. Having served for some time as 
Commander of his brigade, he was nominated by President Lincoln 1863, 
for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. At this promising moment 
in his military career, the death of his father necessitated his resigning from 
the army to return home in Frankfort. Shortly afterwards, he was elect- 

•iRuilt by Captain Harry I. Todd. 

48 



ed by an immense majority of the Union Party, Attorney General of the 
State of Kentucky J yet he was twice the unsuccessful candidate for Govern- 
or. And from the ejiding of the Civil War, there was never a Republi- 
can Governor of Kentucky until the election of William O. Bradley 1895, 
a period of over thirty years. 

President Hayes appointed him in 1877, one of the Louisiana Com- 
mission on the part of the Government to bring about some amicable plan 
of adjusting the unfortunate political status of that state. A foreign ap- 
pointment was also offered him, but he declined it. On November 29, 
1877, President Hayes appointed him an Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States, which position he held until his death in 191 1, 
extending over a period of thirty-four years, his length of service having 
been exceeded by only two others — Chief Justice John Marshall and As- 
socite Justice, Stephen J. Field; and at the time of his death, he was the 
oldest man on the bench. He married Miss M. F. Shanklin of Indiana, 
a woman of great beauty and charm, who survives him, with several 
children.*^ 

Mr. Justice Harlan had a most genial and delightful personality; was 
of commanding appearance, being powerful and admirably built. It was 
said of him in his youth, that his appearance alone was worth five thousand 
dollars a year to his profession. 

*lHis children were, — i. Edith, who married Mr. Childs of Chicago, deceased; 2. Reverend 
Richard Davenport; 3. John M., Jr., of Chicago; 4. James, of Washington City; 5. Laura; 6. 
Ruth. 



^9 




\V. B. Oelza, Photographer 
Early Home of Hon. George Graham lest. Home of the late Mr. John Broivn Lindsey 



ANOTHER of Frankfort's brilliant sons and a resident of this cele- 
brated neighborhood was the distinguished GEORGE GRAHAM 
VEST, born December 6, 1830, son of John Jay and Harriet (Gra- 
ham) Vest, of Virginia ancestry of Scotch Irish origin. 

Receiving his early education under Professor B. B. Sayre, he later 
graduated at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky 1848, and at Transylvan- 
ia University 1853, the latter year removing to Missouri, where he practic- 
ed law. He was Presidential Elector i86oj a member of the Missouri 
House of Representatives 1 860-6 1; of the Confederate House of Repre- 
sentatives two years and of the Confederate Senate one. For twenty-five 
years he served in the United States Senate — until his death, 1903. 
He married Sallie E. Sneed of Danville Kentucky and had three 

children. 

Mr. Vest was a lawyer of the highest ability and an unquestioned lead- 
er in National Council j a quick, witty and resourceful debater and took a 
high place in the Senate on all great National questions. Yet the great 
versatility of his talents was strongly illustrated in his pleadings before 

50 



the jury when he composed the "Tribute to the Dog," which has long 
since become a classic. (In Baldwin's Law Bulletin we find the follow- 
ing:) The occasion was the trial over the killing of a dog which was held 
in a Missouri town when he was a young lawyer. 

Senator Vest appeared for the plaintiff, while Senator Francis M. Coch- 
rell, then a county practitioner, represented the defendant. 

Young Vest took no interest in the testimony and made no notes, but 
at the close of the case arose and in a soft voice, made the following ad- 
dress: 

"Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this 
world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or 
daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. 
Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with 
our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. 
The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, 
perhaps in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are 
prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us, 
may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its 
cloud upon our heads. 

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this 
selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never 
proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A man's dog stands by 
him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will 
sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow 
drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss 
the hand that has no food to offerj he will lick the wounds and sores 
that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards 
the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other 
friends desert, he remains. When riches take wings and reputation 
falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey 
through the heavens. 

"If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friend- 
less and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that 
of accompanying him, to guard him against danger, to fight against 
his enemies. And when the last scene of all comes, and death takes 
his master in its embrace and his body is laid away, there by the grave- 
side, will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his 
eyes sad, but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true even in 
death." 

"Upon the conclusion of his remarks, there were but few dry eyes in 

51 



the audience. The case was submitted without further augument, and the 
jury promptly returned a verdict for the plantiff." 

This is regarded as one of the most beautiful tributes ever paid to a 
clumb animal. 

Though Mr. Vest was born in the home of his grandfather, Mr. George 
Graham, on the South Side of Frankfort, adjoining the bridge on the 
spot where now stands the Y. M. C. A. building, at an early age and for 
a number of years thereafter, we find him residing on the southwest corner 
of Wapping and Washington Streets, in a two story brick house, (the 
central hall and four front rooms, above and below), having been owned 
by his father. This house was later sold and conveyed to Mrs. Lucy 
Price Weisiger (widow of Captain Daniel Weisiger) and her son-in-law, 
Mr. Thomas Noble Lindsey, and since which time the house has been 
materially enlarged. 

Mr. Lindsey was an able lawyer, member of the Legislature and of 
the Constitutional Convention of 18495 President of the Farmer's Bank 
of Kentucky J a gifted and versatile writer and a fine citizen. Of the 
large family who were reared here,*^ his eldest son. General Daniel 
Weisiger Lindsey, a lawyer of Frankfort, was during the Civil War, 
Colonel of the Twenty-second Volunteer Infantry, United States Army, 
and was in 1863 appointed Inspector General of Kentucky, which gave 
him the rank of Major General and supervisor over all of the Union 
Military forces of the State. Having married Catherine Fitch, he re- 
moved to the South Side of Frankfort, where his widow and several 
children still reside. 

The homestead has been retained by the second son, the late Mr. John 
Brown Lindsey, also a prominent lawyer of Frankfort, who married Helen 
Talbot and it is still the home of six of their children, their daughter, 
Maria, being one of the best known musicians in the state. 

Here again have been four generations in an unbroken line of inheri- 
tance, even unto the fine old portraits and mahogonies, while the garden 
walk through rows of blooming flowers, leads back to the water's edge. 

*10ther children of Thomas Noble Lindsey and Isabella Price Weisiger were: — Maria, 
married John R. Thomas, of Lebanon, Ky. ; Lucy, married Dr. J. McClusky Blayney, D. D. ; 
Thomas, married Stella Rawson ; Mary Belle, married Henry D. Fitch; Joseph Weisiger, 
married Maria Crittenden Watson. 



52 





Mrs. Daniel IVeisiger 



Capt. Daniel Weisiger 



JUST across Washington Street from here, and facing the residence of 
Mr. Justice Todd on Wapping, is one of the most choice situations 
for a home to be found in the city. The grounds comprise nearly a 
block, with its garden terraced back to the river, while it has been of many 
fold interest in the chronicles of Frankfort's National servants. 

In the annals of the town's early days — among its largest land owners 
and public spirited men, whose moral character was above suspicion and in- 
tegrity proverbial — on every leaf is written the name of CAPTAIN DAN- 
IEL WEISIGER. A city trustee 17905 for ten years clerk of the County 
Court J of committees to build a new Court House, new bridge, new Capitol j 
director of the first Bank ever chartered in Kentucky ( 1809) and was in 
some way connected with every public improvement in the town itself or 
county of Franklin. 

Born in Virginia May 18, 1763, he was the third of his name in this 
country, the first having emigrated from the Netherlands and settled in 
Virginia 1 745. 

Ranking as a Captain in Northwestern Expeditions against the Indians, 
he eventually with his company, wended his way to Lexington, Kentucky, 
about 1790, where Lucy Price, to join her pioneer parents, had preceded 
him. Indeed, it is recorded in family records, that shortly after his ar- 
rival, while lying upon his bed in the Tavern suffering from a slight illness, 
his young Lieutenant said "Captain V^^eisiger, come to the window, here 



53 



is something to cure your headache." To his surprise, it was the beautiful 
girl whom he well remembered having seen seated on the bank of a 
river, dressed for a dinner party back in Virginia in 1783-6, when he and 
his company had forded the stream, but whom he had failed to meet 
''being ordered that day to march with his men to fight Indians — possibly 
the British." 

They were married May 15, 1791 and located in Frankfort, occupying 
for several years a two story house built of hewn logs, that once stood in 
the lot above mentioned. Here was born Joseph Weisiger, the first white 
male child born in Frankfort.*^ 

Through Captain Weisiger^s intelligence and industry, he amassed a 
handsome estate, when he eventually removed to his massive dwelling on 




Rear vieiv of "The Terraces," as seen from the river. The home of 
Mrs. Chapman Coleman and of Mr. John Buford Ilendrick 



54 



Main and Anne Streets. But after some years, alas, through the great 
generosity of his nature, much of his property was swept from him to pay 
the debts of his friends for whom he had gone security and his wide doors 
were thrown open for a taxern h)ng known as "The Weisiger House," 
famed for its excellency and as the houser of many distinguished guests. 
It sheltered LaFayette on his memorable \isit, and it was here that the 
ball was given in his honor, Captain Weisiger's name heading the list of 
twenty on invitation. For a decade or more after his death in 1829, his 
widow with the grace and courage ft)r which she was re\'ered, continued 
the work. The\' were the ancestors of a number of most representative 
families throughout Kentucky and other states. 

Following the tenancy of the Daniel Weisigers, DR. JOHN 
MITCHELL SCOTT, about the latter part of the eighteenth century, 
weather boarded the logs and constructed a larger and more modern two 
story dwelling. It is upon this ground, where once stood the homes of 
Weisiger and Scott, that now stands ''The Terraces," the stately residence 
built by Mr. Philip Swigert. 

Dr. Scott was a surgeon in the Revolutionary War — commision signed 
by Washington. Later with the rank of Colonel, he served in the War 
of 1 8 12. 

When taken ill at Vincennes, Indiana, and longing to be home, should 
death be imminent, his soldiers carried him on a litter, swimming the 
Ohio River, and down through the trackless forest they brought him, where 
no road had yet penetrated. 

Colonel Scott was especially interesting to Frankfort as the father of 
Mrs. Arabella Welch whose fi\e charming daughters were for so many 
years a prominent part of Frankfort's social and religious circles. One of 
these daughters was Louise Welch, the late Mrs. Leopold Labrot, whose 
residence, for nearly forty years, was on Main and Wilkinson Streets.*" 
Her latch string forever up, her friends of all ages, came and went, 
charmed by her wit and brilliantly cultivated mind, or soothed by her 
gentle presence — a presence so quiet and yet so strong and lasting in its 
imprint. 

She died in France in her eightieth year — her husband's France that 
she had so longed to see. 

*'Other children were, — i. Daniel; 2. Samuel, married Ann Kli/aheth Cowan; 3. Anne, 
married Col. Adams, moved to Miss.; 4. Lucy, married Judge Wm. Roper; 5. Elizabeth, married 
Robert Alexander; 6. Emiiine, married Jacob Swigert; 7. Mary Bell, married Col. John 
Slaughter; Isabella Price, married Thomas Noble Lindsey. 

*20ther daughters of Mrs. Welch were, — Catherine Davis, married Alexander Grant; Mary 
Welch, married Edward Hensly; Elizabeth Welch, married Torbcrt Coryelle ; Arabella Welch, 
married Edward Payson Bryan. 

55 




I iiderwood & Underwood, Photou'rapliers 

After the surrender of the High Seas Fleet, King George accompanied by the Prince of Wales 

and Admiral Beatty, came aboard the battleship, Neiv York, 

to join Admirals Simrns and Rodman. 



LAST on the list of the boasted progeny of this inspired corner, is AD- 
MIRAL HUGH RODMAN, a National and Inter-national hgure 
in the late World War. As Commander of the Battleship Division 
of our Naval Fleet, co-operating with the British Grand-fleet under Sir 
David Beatty who received the final surrender on November 21, 191 8, of 
the whole of the German's High Sea Fleet — a surrender which on so 
gigantic a scale has no precedent in Naval History. 

Admiral Rodman was born January 6, 1859 — the youngest child of 
Dr. Hugh Rodman a prominent physician of Frankfort. His mother, 
nee, Susan Anne Barbour, was a woman of fine intellect and force of 
character^ a descendant of the prominent \'irginia families of Barbour, 
]\'ndleton and Taylor, while of the latter a lineal descendant of two of 
ihe sons of no less a person than Colonel George Taylor of Orange County, 
V'irginia, who sent ten of his eleven sons into the Revolutionary War, nine 
of whom were commissioned officers of either Army or Navy. 

The stories of Admiral Rodman's childhood in the town of his nati\ity 
are reminiscent of his great lo\'e for fishing and hunting j of his youthful 
pranks, and an irresistible tendenc\- to wit and fun making, the latter 
characteristic, so evidenced by the camera even in the presence of King- 
George V. of Great Britain. 

He was created a Knight Commander of The Order of The Bath by 

56 



King George V. The investiture took place on board "The Queen 
Elizabeth," the Flagship of the Grand Fleet, July 25th, 191 8. 

His decorations by other countries are: Grand Cordan of the Order of 
Leopold II of Belgium; Order of The Rising Sun, Japan; Commander of 
the Legion of Honor, France; Medal de la Solidaridad, Panama; First 
Order El Merite, Chile; Order of El Sol, Peru. He also received the 
Distinguished Ser\'ice Medal from the United States Navy in the World 
War; the Dewey Medal for service at the Battle of Manila Bay, May 
T, i898;the Spanish War Medal and the Victory Medal; and two from 
the "Sons of American Rexolution," one each for service in Spanish and 
World War. 

Upon his return to this country at the close of the World War, he was 
elevated to the rank of a full Admiral, and made Commander in Chief 
of the Pacific Fleet. 

In July 1 92 1, he was appointed by Warren G. Harding, Minister and 
Envoy Extraordinary to represent the United States Government in 
Lima, at the Centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence 
of Peru. 

He married Elizabeth Ruffin, daughter of the celebrated Professor 




\\ . H. Oclza, riiotographcr 

Birth place of Admiral Hugh Rodman, built by Mr. Lines Brodliead 

57 



Burwell Bassett Sayre, from whom so many noted men in this locality 
received their college preparation — and a sister of Virginia Sayre, who had 
married the Admiral's eldest brother, Dr. William Barbour Rodman, a 
physician of great skill and brilliancy — who first recognized that pneumonia 
is contageous. He was long a resident of this square, and whose son. Com- 
mander Samuel Sayre Rodman, Medical Corps, U. S. Navy, was in Com- 
mand of a Base Hospital at Gibraltar in the World War. 

The birthplace of the Admiral is a broad two story brick house, the 
central one of the three homes on the north side of Wapping Street. This 
was later sold by his mother to GENERAL FAYETTE HEWITT, and 
occupied by him and his brother, Mrgil and family for a quarter of a 
century or more. General Hewitt was a gallant officer in the Confederate 
States Army 5 son of Robert and Elizabeth Chastain Hewitt, who removed 
from Bedford County Virginia 1829. During the Civil War, General 
Hewitt spent much time organizing the Confederate Mail System in the 
South and was assistant Adjutant-General under Davis. He was staff of- 
ficer under Generals John C. Breckinridge and Ben Hardin Helm, and 
participated in many bloody battles, having three horses killed under him, 
and distinguished himself as a gallant, daring and fearless soldier. 

In 1857, he was appointed by Governor Stevenson, Quartermaster 
General of Kentucky, serving through two administrations. He was also 
State Auditor for two terms, resigning to become President of The State 
National Bank at Frankfort, which position he held until his death. His 
fine ability and large administrative skill, uprightness of character and 
generosity of nature, made him one of the most valuable men of his State. 

His brother, Virgil, was Adjutant of the Sixth Regiment of Kentucky 
Infantry, C. S. A. in the brigade of General Joseph Lewis. 



58 



THE MOST recent distinction to which this corner lays claim is the 
appointment by President Harding of DR. JOHN GLOVER 
SOUTH, as Minister to Panama. 

He was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, January 23, 1873 and as the son 
of Colonel Samuel South, C. S. A.*^ and Malvry Blackwell Jett, his wife, 
is of a family that dates its ancestry back to early pioneer settlers of Ken- 
tucky. He is the great-great-grandson of Major John South, an officer of 
the Revolutionary War, in command of Boonsboro 1783, and a member of 
the first Kentucky Legislature, and of Captain William Bryant, founder of 
the historic Bryant's Station, who married a sister of Daniel Boone. 

Dr. South was educated at Dudley Listitute, Excelsior Institute, the 
University of Arkansas and the Medical Department of the University of 
Louisville, Kentucky, where he received his degree of M. D. in 1897. ^^ 
has practiced medicine in Frankfort since his graduation, with great success. 

In 1899 he had charge of the Anti-small pox campaign in this part of 
Kentucky. While President of the Kentucky State Board of Health from 
1 907-1 92 1, he was also President of the State Medical Association, being 
the only man that has held these two positions at the same time. 

In 1904, Mr. South married Christine Duncan Bradley, only child of 
William O. Bradley, former Governor of Kentucky and United States 
Senator. 

For upwards of fifteen years, the residence of Dr. and Mrs. South has 
been in the historic grounds of the "Old Love House," at the intersection 
of Wilkinson and Wapping Streets, where the river makes its bend around 
their garden. 

Having shown what the members of the past generations have done in 
service to their State and Country, it is with singular pride that the name 
of LIEUTENANT-COLONEL EDGAR ERKSINE HUME, MEDI- 
CAL CORPS, U. S. A., is added as a successor to the distinguished men who 
have gone before him. Linked to this historic square by intermittent so- 
journs, in spite of the manifold activities which have taken him far afield, 
he is still regarded as a component part of Frankfort's contribution to the 
Nation's history. His brilliant services in the World War have brought 
him recognition not only from America, but every land he touched. 

A direct descendant of the Humes of Wedderburn Castle, Scotland, 
he was born December 26, 1889, in Frankfort, Kentucky, the only son*" 

*lHe received the Confederate Medal of Honor for gallantry at Chicamauga. There were 
»nly forty medals awarded by the Confederate Government. 
•-Eleanor, the only daughter married Henry Offutt. 

59 



of Dr. Enoch Edgar Hume and Mary Ellen South, *^ his wife, and from 
whom he inherited the characteristics of intellect, kindness and tenacity 
of purpose. 

His father served his State with the vertiable spirit of the "Doctor of the 
Old School," honored and belov^ed by the entire community, an example 
and heritage impossible to have entirely resisted. He was also a member 
of the Kentucky Legislature and Mayor of Frankfort. 

The young Doctor received his B. A. and M. A. from Centre College, 
Danville, Kentucky j M. D. from Johns Hopkins University 1913, and 
was on the Staff of the Johns Hopkins Hospital 191 3-14. He attended 
the Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich 19 14, and Royal Uni- 
versity of Rome 191 5, being a member of the Relief Expedition after the 
Earthquake in the Abruzzi, Italy in January the same year, receiving 
Earthquake Medal in Silver for same. At this time, he was mentioned in the 
Ambassador's dispatches to the State Department.*" 

He was First Lieutenant in the Army Medical Reserve Corps 19 16, 
and Honor Graduate at the Army Medical School 191 7, when he became 
First Lieutenant in the Medical Corps and was promoted through the 
various grades, attaining the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel 19 18. In 191 7, 
he served on the Mexican Border and was afterwards on duty in the 
office of the Surgeon General of the Army at Washington, (Major General 
William Crawford Gorgas) 191 7-1 8. In 191 8 he was made the Command- 
ing Officer of United States Army Base Hospitals with the Royal Italian 
Army, War Zone Italy. He was on temporary duty with No. 12 General 
Hospital, British Expeditionary Force, France and with the American Cen- 
tres at Toul, Vittel, Bazoilles-sur-Meuse, Contrexeville, LaFoche, Chau- 
mont. Tours, Paris and Rouen, 191 8. As American Red Cross Commissioner 
for Serbia 1919-20 he had charge of all the activities in Serbia, Bosnia, 
Herzegovina, Macedonia, Northern Greece, Eastern Albania, Eastern 
Montenegro, the Banat and with the Allied Army of Occupation in 
Hungary j also in charge of relief for the Russian, Polish, Lithuanian and 
Czecho-Slovack refugees in the Balkans. 

He was Commanding Officer of the United States Army First Corps 
Area Laboratory at Fort Banks, Massachusetts, 1920-22, receiving C. P. H. 
from the School of Public Health of Harvard University and the Mas- 
sachusetts Institute of Technology 1921 and D. T. M. from the School of 
Tropical Medicine of Harvard University 1922. At present he is again 
on duty in the office of the Surgeon General of the Army. 

*'Sister of Dr. John South. 

*2Thomas Nelson Page, the Ambassador at this time, had been a frequent visitor to this 
;orner in Frankfort. 

60 



Among our American Officers, few, if any received so large a number 
of Decorations — twenty-three in number — having been knighted nine 
times. He was made Grand Officer of the Royal Order of Saint Sava of 
Serbia j Commander of the Royal Order of Danilo of Montenegro j Com- 
mander of the Imperial Order of St. Anne of Russia; Commander of the 
Royal Order of George the First of Greece; Commander of the Royal 
Order of Polonia Restitua of Poland; Knight Officer of the Sacred and 
Military Order of Saint Maurice and Saint Lazarus of Italy, this being 
the highest order in the gift of the King to any save Royalty; Knight Of- 
licer of the Royal Order of the Star of Roumania; and Knight Officer of 
the Royal Order of the Crown of Roumania. 

He received the Italian Croix de Guerre; the Greek Croix de Guerre; 
the Czecho-Slovack Croix de Guerre; The Royal Serbian Red Cross; the 
Greek Military Medal; the Panamanian Medal de la Solidaridad; the 
Montenegrin Gold Medal for Merit; the Serbian Sanitary Service Silver 
Medal; the Italian-Austrian Campaign Medal with two Stars; the French 
Conimemorative Medal for the Great War; the White Cross of the Third 
Italian Army and the Italian Silver Earthquake Service Medal and the 
British General Service Medal. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographi- 
cal Society of Great Britain and of the Dante Society of Italy. 

He married Mary Swigert Hendrick,*^ of Frankfort, whose home was 
"The Terraces." They have one son, Edgar Erskine Hume Jr. Her 
brother, John Buford Hendrick Jr., held the commission of Captain in 
the Ordinance Department in the World War. 

In concluding my account of this galaxy of National Celebrities, 
with the talented young physician and his brilliant war services, the fault 
is all my own, if in vain I have labored to show that the spirit of in- 
spiration and service ever prevading this historic corner, is neither dead — 
nor sleeping. 

*^Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Buford Hendrick. 




Addenda 

After this book had gone to the publisher the author came into the 
possession of the following letters which give in more defined detail a 
glimpse of the life at "Liberty Hall." 

In a letter from Aaron Burr to his daughter Theodosia, it being part 
of a journal kept by him during his travels in the South and West in 1805, 
he writes: 

"Arrived at Lexington on the 20th of August, 1805^ left for Frank- 
fort, distance of twenty two miles, on the 31st. I am magnificiently 
lodged at the house of John Brown who married your old friend, Miss 
Mason, who is, you know> the sister of my friend the "Priest" John Ma- 
son. She has two fine boys, the youngest now four. I find him some- 
thing like A. B. A. and of course I amuse myself with him a great deal. 
Mrs. Brown is still very handsome and speaks of you with attachment 
and respect." 

Under the date of July r, 18 19, the following letter was written 
by Mrs. Brown to her son Orlando, then a student at Princeton College. 

^'The President, James Monroe has arrived and departed. He was re- 
ceived with due public honors, as the papers will inform you. Yester- 
terday morning he breakfasted with us, in company with General Jack- 
son and that hero whose cool, determined and successful courage has never 
been rivalled in ancient or niodern times, who so bravely defended Fort 
Harrison, Maj. Zachary Taylor. They spent the last evening at Mr. Bibb's, 
breakfasted this morning at the Governor's and are now on their way to 
Colonel Richard M. Johnson's*' where they will dine today, your 
father and uncle James Brown will accompany them. Your father pre- 
sided at the public dinner, and has been much distinguished by the Presi- 
dent. 

''General Adair dined with the President in company with General 
Jackson, but \\() conjectures are formed respecting their feelings toward 
each othen some fears were entertained that General Jackson would be 
personally insulted, but nothing of the kind occurred. Indeed, his signal ser- 
vice to his nation ought to obliterate every sentiment of local jealousy, 
for if he has not done the Kentuckians justice, he has procured them, 
as part of the American Republic, incalcuable adxantages," 



*iCol. Richard Mentor Johnson, born Bryants Station, Ky., 1781, died Frankfort, Ky. 1850, 
is credited with having killed Teciimseh ; distinguished Colonel at the battle of the Thames. 
Member of the Kentucky Legislature, and Representative and Senator in Congress; four yean 
Vice-President of the United States. 

63 



General LaFayette's visit to Frankfort was also the theme o£ an in- 
teresting letter written by Mrs. Margaretta ( Mason) Brown to her 
Mother Mrs. John Mason of New York City: 

Frankfort, Kentucky, July I2, 1825 

the arrival of General LaFayette occasioned as much bustle 

( in proportion to the population) here as at New York, and I must re- 
late a circumstance which I know will give you pleasure, as it was the 
cause of great gratification to me. There was a splendid Ball to be given in 
the evening, but as there were many Ladies who did not attend Balls, and 
yet wished to see the General, they were introduced to him at his Markee, 
I was one of the number and had such a hearty and long-continued shake 
of the hand as to occasion the envy of many an impatient expectant. In 
the evening twelve or fourteen of my particular friends took tea with me 
and urged me to go to the Ball in order to have another interview with 
the General. I told them my objections, that I had not frequented any 
place of public amusement for many years> and that although I might 
spend a few minutes in a Ball room without contamination, yet I thought 
it inconsistant with the profession I had made. Several of my friends 
replied "that they were church members as well as myself and that 
though they would not go at any other time, yet as such an occasion would 
never come again they thought themselves justified to attend. Thus we 
parted, they all paraded off to the Ball, except Elizabeth Humphrey's 
and myself, but they had not been gone more than 20 minutes when who 
should arrive here but General LaFayette, his son and suite. The Gen- 
eral spent nearly an hour with us in most delightful conversation, while 
those who went to the Ball did not exchange a sylable with him. Had 
I not a triumph r 

"The General was introduced to Mason at Lexington. He told him 
politely that he was indebted to his family for all the honor and pleasure 
he had received since his arrival in America for that if his uncle James 
Brown (our Minister at the Court of France) had not become Security 
for his return, he would never ha\'e been permitted to leave France. He 
paid but one other \'isit in town, and that was to Mrs. Todd, a sister of 
Mrs. Madison." 



64 



/ N D E X 



A.iams, C"(.l 55 

Alexander 55 

Allen 12, 32 

Ashley 36 

Haily 18 

Barbour 56 

Barret 18 

Bastienne 26 

Beatty 56 

Bibb 5, 28, 29, 30, 32 

Blayney 52 

Biedsoe 18 

Blannerha^seit 12 

Bnone +1, 43, 59 

Bradley +9, 59 

Breathitt 39 

Breckinridjie ...24.. 4:, 43, 58 

Broadnax 39 

Brodhead 6, 19, 57 

Brown, 5, 6. 12, 15, 16, 17, iS, 

19, 20, 21, 41 

Bryan 55 

Bryan 55 

Bryant 59 

Buckner 30, 35 

Burnley 28, 29, 30, 33 

Burr II, 12, 15, 17, 36, 39 

Burwell 25 

Bush 10 

Calish 45 

Carlisle 45 

Carter 25 

Chastain 58 

Chinn 49 

Clay 12, 20, 28, 32, 33, 39 

Cleverland 45 

Cochrell 55 

Coleman 6. 33, 34, 54 

Collins 44 

Conde 29 

Coryelle 55 

Cowan 55 

Crittenden, 5, 6, 17, 24, 26, 29, 

30, 31. 32, 33. 34, 35, 37, 

38, 39. 41, 42 

Custer 35 

Daviess 12 

Davidson 26, 44 

Davis 55, 58 

Dent 38 

Desha 27 

Dudley 16 

ICdwards 16 

Edward III 42 

Kdward \\\ 36 

Kppes 44 

F-spey 39 

Farragut 35 

Ferguson 18 

Field 49 

Filmore 32, 33 

Fitch . .52 

Fowler 10, 37 

Gates 10 

Gay 26 

George V 56, 57 



Gorgas 60 

(jrahain 50, 52 

CJratkins 38 

t'lant 34, 39 

CIreely 6, 18 

CJreen 41 

(iriffith 25 

Ciunn 18 

Hamilton 12 

Hannah 25 

Harding 6, 10, 57 

Harlan 5, 6, 41, 47, 48, 49 

Hart 20, 37 

Harris 25, 31 

Harrison 6, 25, 32, 38 

Harvie 16, 41 

Hayes 49 

Helm 58 

Hendrirk 34, 54, 61 

Hensie\' 55 

Hewitt 58 

H()l!ne^ II, 46 

Hojikiiis 32, 41 

Hord 19 

Hume 59, 60 

Inn is 23, 25, 33 

Instone 7, 13 

Jackson 17, 32 

James 26 

Jefferson ..11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 24 

Jett .59 

Jones 47 

Johnson 26, 43, 44 

Jouett 10, 27, 37, 40 

Labrot 30, 55 

La Fayette, 15, 17, 20, 26, 33, 
36, 55 

Latham 39 

Launitz 18 

Lee 33. 40 

Letcher 6, 38, 42, 44, 48 

Levasseur 26 

levy 44 

Lewis 58 

Lincoln 48 

Lindsay 44, 45, 46, 47 

Lindsey 19, 50, 52, 55 

Love II, 12, 13, 17 

Madison 16, 17, 25, 26 

Marshall 10, 42, 4S, 49 

Mason 17, 18 

McCainpbell 44 

McDowell 21 

McKinley 45 

Metcalfe 6, 31, 38 

Mi'P 8, II 

Moise 10, 37 

Monroe 16. 17, 20 

Ktontgomery 5, 8, 20 

Morehead 6, 93, 40, 41 

Morton 8 

Neagle 10 

Vicholas 21 

Offut 59 

O'Hara 8, 43 

Page 60 

65 



Palmer 39, 45 

Payne 26 

Pendleton 56 

Pepper 30 

Pershing 18 

Peter 26 

Phillippe 12, 25 

Phythian 6 

Porter 39 

Preston 15, 18 

Price 19, 53 

Ramsey 32 

Rawson 52 

Reed 30 

Renick 26 

Roberts 30 

Robertson 44, 48 

Rodman 6, 56, 57, 58 

Roper 55 

Roosevelt 17 

Ross 26 

Sawyer la, 12 

Sayre 34, 3s. 50, 57, 58 

Scott 18, 29, 35. 36. 55 

Semple 46 

Shaler 12 

Shelby 20, 25, 32 

Simms 48, 56 

Slaughter 40, 55 

Smith 41 

Sneed 50 

South 6, 59, 60 

Stanton g 

Starling 25 

St. Clair .'.8 

Story 24 

Strickland 16 

Stuart 10 

Swain 26 

Swere 46 

S^^'S^rt 34, 55 

Talbot 52 

Taylor ... .17, 35. 37, 39, 42, 56 

Thomas 52 

Thornton 12, 26, 36 

Todd, 5, 6, 23, 25, 26, 27, 35, 36, 
47. 4S 

Trabue 7 

T.vler 5, 15, 18 

Vaughaii 26 

Vest 6, 50, 51 

Waite 18 

Walker 41 

\\':ishingt(i!i 5, 26 

\\'atson, (t. iS, 26, 31, 35. 36, 52 

\\'a\ne n 

Webster 36, 37 

^V«"'^'Ser 52, 53, 54, 5<; 

Welch 55 

\\'ilcox 36 

\\'iiliams 10 

Wilkinson 7, 10, 17, 20 

^^'ilson S, 10, 11 

^'oder i8 

Voung 33, 4f 



H 137 89 




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